Proof Positive
by ianna28
Summary: Tony is no stranger to paternity claims from his female conquests. But when one of the tests actually comes back positive, he decides to not tell anyone about it. All Mary Parker wants is for Tony to spend a little time with their son. Then he goes missing for 3 months. Tony has a lot to think about in his life now, his company, his arc reactor, and Peter. Full summary inside.
1. Nov 2004 - Oct 2006

**Summary:** **Tony is no stranger to paternity claims from his female conquests, there's a system in place for them. But when one of the tests actually comes back positive, he makes a rash decision to not tell anyone about it, not even Pepper Potts. All Mary Parker wants is for Tony to spend a little time with their son, and she'll badger Tony Stark into showing up at least twice a month in any way that she can.**

 **And then he goes missing for three months in Afghanistan. Tony has a lot to think about in his life now, how he wants to run his company, how his life is going to change with the arc reactor, and what he's going to do about his son, Peter. Then, the Avengers Initiative pops up, and in waltzes his childhood hero, and enemy, Captain America.**

 **Follows IM1, IM2, Avengers, Cap2. Not canon-compliant, but follows the plots.**

 **A/N: The first chapter will follow follow through the story of Iron Man 1 until he returns from Afghanistan. I've made Tony 27 at the start of this story. I brought up the official Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline, and I followed that for the most part, but there will be bigger jumps between movies. There are no warning for now, but that could be liable to change, with ample warning.  
**

 **This is un-Beta'd so I apologize for errors, I'll catch them as I go along.**

 **I own nothing except my imagination, everything else belongs to Marvel.**

* * *

 **November 2004**

Tony Stark leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling through his sunglasses, waiting for the printer to spit out the results that three, maybe four, people were eager to see. He wasn't even supposed to be in the office today, he had called a personal day for himself, nursing a hangover from the night before that he had been hoping to not encounter by still drinking in the privacy of his own home.

Virginia "Pepper" Potts had called him after 10am, (still too early in his book), saying that he had an appointment, and it wasn't something that she could field for him. Pepper managed to trick him into getting there ten minutes early, telling him the appointment was an hour earlier than it actually was. She was starting to know him too well, maybe he should start thinking about hiring a new PA.

What Tony had not been expecting to walk in the door was a woman that looked vaguely familiar. When he lifted his sunglasses a little, he remembered her from nearly a year ago, but it was her honey colored eyes, and the brown hair that had been curled around her shoulders when they first met. He was pretty sure that his nearly drunken brain at the time thought it would be a good idea to sleep with someone that looked like him, you know, if he was a female.

This wouldn't be the first time that one of his one-night conquests had made their way to his office; he was Tony Stark, everyone knew who he was by now. No, the surprise had been in the way of the small infant int he car seat that she had brought with her. Before Tony said anything, Pepper had called for a DNA test kit, (and he was glad that those were held on retainer in the building), and now they were waiting. The woman, Mary, hadn't argued about letting the lab downstairs process the DNA, saying they had better equipment than any other hospital or lab. The office was nearly silent, except for the occasional sound from the one month old. It seemed that he had been about to take a nap, and Tony was grateful. He was trying to will away the pounding in his head, and he's pretty sure that if there had been a wailing baby, he might have done something that even he would have regretted.

The printer suddenly jumped to life, and Tony rolled over int he chair, grabbing it before Pepper could. The two women in the room watched him eagerly, both awaiting the results, and Tony looked at the paper, at the words and comparisons of the DNA. He of course had been thinking about what would happen with either result. If the results were negative, nothing would change, except that Pepper would probably put a couple more security black suits on him. This was the third paternity claim this year alone, and he could practically feel her glare when Mary had first walked in. And maybe this one they could keep from Obie finding out about it, keep it from the tabloids this time so they wouldn't have to pay to have it not run.

If the results were positive,... Well, he wasn't actually sure. They would probably try to pay her off, enough money both Mother and baby would be set for a good many years. He was 27, the CEO of a Weapons Manufacturing Company, he traveled when he wasn't out on his own, he spent long hours in his workshop at home, and in the R&D labs at the office, and just generally wasn't responsible enough for a child. Also, two hours was not enough to make a life decision, while nursing a hangover.

"Tony?" Pepper had moved a little closer, pulling his attention. He looked up at her, then folded the paper in half, shaking his head. She nodded once to him then turned to Mary. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing that we can do for you. I can have someone from Security-"

"I'll walk out with her," Tony said suddenly, standing up from his chair, pocketing the paper. Pepper looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "I was going home after this anyway." He grabbed his jacket, sunglasses still on, and slipped it on as a silent Mary blinked, picking up the diaper bag and car seat. He gave a little wave to Pepper, holding the door open for Mary, (he wasn't that much of an ass to not get the door for the new mother), and left walking next to her, hands in his pockets.

"Did that paper really-" Mary started before Tony interrupted her, quietly.

"Where do you live?" He asked as they walked to the elevator, the doors opening as soon as he pressed the button. He glanced down at the carrier, holding the small baby, eyes closed as it slept. He hadn't even asked for the baby's name.

"Why does it matter?" Mary asked him, eyes narrowing a little. Tony took the paper out of his pocket, handing it to her.

"Because, I'd like to come over, and talk about this without someone from the company there." Mary looked at the paper, then back up at him, but he was looking forward at the elevator doors as they moved down to the first floor. "So, uh, what is his name?"

"Your sons name is Peter."

* * *

Tony took the town car that Happy usually drove him around in to Mary's apartment. He had to park on the street and he looked around the neighborhood before he got out of the car. The sun was setting, there were other kids playing on the street, chasing each other around the corner, a couple of dogs barking and following them. It wasn't a busy street, a busy area, but it also didn't scream the safest place for a new, young mother to live with her infant son, alone. This was not what Tony Stark was used to, either.

Pocketing the keys to the car he locked the doors as he got out and walked over to the apartment building that Mary lived in. She said that the door was broken so it didn't lock properly, and if you just turned it to the left a little it would pop right open. She wasn't wrong. Tony was already thinking about how he could fix that problem.

There was no elevator, how did people live in a building without an elevator? Luckily, Mary only lived on the third floor, so he took to the stairs, eyes pointed down at the stairs in case someone was coming down, and might have recognized him. As Tony saw that paint was slowly but surely chipping off of the walls and the trim, he wondered when the last time this building had been inspected, or even worked on. Maybe he was being too harsh, he lived in a custom built mansion and not an apartment in the city. When he saw a rat trap in the corner of the stairs landing, with a rat in it, he decided was in fact Not being too harsh.

He gave the trap a wider berth, and quickly found apartment 3E. He knocked twice and waited, adjusting his dark sunglasses, hands finding his pockets again. The door opened a couple of seconds later and Mary was there, giving him a little smile, opening the door wider to let him inside. Tony looked around as he walked in, eyeing the little apartment. The walls weren't chipping like out in the hall, but it also looked like Mary had probably painted the walls a soft blue. The floors were hardwood, no carpet except for the new rug in the middle of the small living room, obviously meant for Peter so he didn't hurt himself on the wood. Tony saw that Peter was sleeping in a bassinet by the gently used loveseat, and he wondered if all newborns were as quiet as he seemed to be.

Mary made a motion to the other oversized chair in the living room. "Can I get you something to drink? Water, some tea?" Tony blinked a little, (Tea?), but shook his head and she sat down on the loveseat, by Peter.

"So, how much do you want?" Tony asked after a second, sitting on the edge of the chair. Mary blinked then tilted her head a little. "We usually like to keep things like this out of the media, and I don't think you want the attention, since you came to me first. So, I'm just wondering-"

"I don't want your money, Tony," she told him, looking him in the eye. "I didn't come to try and stronghold you into anything."

"You obviously want something though," Tony said as he took off his sunglasses. "Or else you won't have come to see me at all."

"Well, you didn't leave me with a phone number, so I couldn't exactly call you," she said dryly. "What I want is something that I hope you can give." Tony raised an eyebrow, noticing how Mary's foot started to rock the bassinet when she saw Peter starting to move around, trying to lull him back to sleep. "I would like for Peter to know his Father. I'm not asking you live with him, or come over every day, just, you know come see him, spend some time with him."

Tony frowned a little. Again, he hadn't been expecting that. No money, not demanding they move in together, get married, whatever she could do to use him or his money. Just, spend time with the baby? He studied her for a few seconds, trying to get a read on if she was telling the truth, or trying to play the long game.

Peter was not going back to sleep and he was making it clear that he did not want to stay in the bassinet, letting out little cries. Mary picked him up, then glanced over at Tony as she cradled him in her arms. "Do you think you could grab the bottle in the kitchen? It should be on the counter, I was warming it up before you got here."

Tony got up, the little kitchen not hard to find. "You use a bottle? Not the, whole," he motioned to his chest, and Mary just raised an eyebrow. "You know, how most mothers do it? Feed the baby?"

"I'm not going to say anything to that." Mary shook her head and Tony grabbed the bottle. She stood up as Tony walked over, and in one motion she took the bottle in one hand and slid her shoulder into Tony's. His arm came up in reflex and she slid Peter into it, staying close to make sure he didn't drop the infant.

Tony's eyes widened when she moved, his other arm coming up to wrap around little Peter, freezing up. He saw that Peter already had brown eyes, dark hair peeking out from beneath the little cap on his head. Mary's hand leaned over, putting the bottle in Tony's hand, helping him adjust his arms to feed Peter, then moving him to the loveseat. Peter's hand rested on Tony's finger and Tony felt a shiver run down his spine; followed by warmth.

"Yeah, I mean," Tony couldn't tear his eyes away from the little boy. "I'm sure I can spare some time in my schedule."

* * *

 **April 2005**

"Tony." Tony didn't look up from the prototype he was working on, Mary's unamused voice filling his workshop, Jarvis putting the call through. "Tony, there are people moving my furniture. Why are there people moving my furniture, out of my apartment, into a truck?" Tony could hear the inquisitive coos of Peter in the background.

"It sounds like you're moving, Mary why didn't you tell me you were moving?" He smirked a little at her frustrated noise.

"Tony!" He often heard that tone when he bought Peter something that he didn't actually need, and she knew that it was overpriced. "I only mentioned once that I was thinking I might move when my lease was up, not that I was going to move."

"That's not what Peter said he wanted last time I was over. He said that he didn't want to live with Manuel anymore." Tony flipped a piece back into the metal cylinder he was working on, watching everything move into place.

"Who's Manuel? No, those will need to go last, please be careful with that, that was my mother in laws." Mary asked, while talking to the movers.

"Manuel is the rat that lives in your hallway, he's the brother of Joan, who was caught in the trap last month." Every time Tony went to visit them, which was roughly 3 times a month, there was a new trap out, and there was a new rat caught in the trap. "I swear, the cockroaches at the door, they spoke to me last week. They spoke Russian. They were talking about moving out as well."

"The cockroaches didn't speak to you," Mary said with a little sigh.

"But you didn't deny that they're there," Tony shot back. "I'm not going to let my son, and the mother of my son, live in a place where the paint chips off faster than I can drink a bottle of scotch."

"From what I remember, that's pretty fast." There was a sound, like the phone being fumbled, and Tony glanced up from his work. There was the beep of a few buttons being pressed, then the familiar burble from Peter.

"Did little hands take Mom's phone?" Tony asked, a fond little smile on his face as he went back to his project. He never got the hang of doing the baby talk thing, but Peter never seemed to mind, and Mary didn't care, as long as Tony never showed up with alcohol on his person, or inside of him. She said no swearing once he was old enough to start repeating words. Tony had made no promises. "You know, I'm okay with this, because I think Mom was trying to yell at me about getting you a new place. And let me tell you, Petey, this new place is nice, and you'll have your own room." He always referred to Mary as Mom, but never to himself as Dad. He was just the guy who showed up a couple times a month, that's all, he wasn't a Dad.

Mary's husband, he would have been Dad. If he were still alive, Pete would probably be his. Mary wouldn't have walked into that bar, and she wouldn't have gone home with him, both of them drunk for two different reasons.

"It seems Peter likes to grab everything that he can now," Mary said after she had reclaimed her phone from the baby.

"Has he mastered rolling over yet? He has genius in his genes, you know." Tony soldered a piece, blew the smoke away and leaned away from his work. "You should look into getting him enrolled in school for next year."

"We've had this conversation, he's six months old, Tony." He heard Mary giving a couple more directions to the moving people. "Where are you moving us, Tony? I think I deserve to know that."

"Closer to Malibu, not as dangerous where you live." Tony had found a nice apartment complex, kid friendly, and not on a busy street, easy to not be spotted and recognized.

"We don't live in a dangerous place," she tried to argue.

"Didn't you say that three cars were broken into last week?" Tony asked, putting the solder gun down, leaning back in his chair. There was a little bit of silence, and Tony smirked a little. "Peter will get his own room, that's right across the hall from you. It's not ostentatious, or anything. That's more my thing."

"Says the man with the custom mansion." Mary let out a tiny little sigh. "Thank you, Tony." Tony smiled,

* * *

 **October 2005**

Tony knocked on the apartment door once, before pushing the door open, setting a big basket down by the door before shutting it. He grinned when there was an excited squeal. "Hey, Petey! Aw man, did Mom put that party hat on you?" He walked over to where Peter was on the floor, surrounded by his new presents from his earlier party. Mary was in the kitchen, cleaning up paper plates and wrapping paper.

"Yes, Mom put a birthday hat on the birthday boy." She called out, pulling the straps to tie the garbage shut. Tony snorted a little and sat down across from Pete on the floor. The now one year old clapped his hands, grinning at Tony, then put his hands on the coffee table, pulling himself up.

"Hey, you can pull yourself up now!" Tony smiled. "I know you were working on that last time, good job!" Tony didn't see Mary peek her head out of the kitchen. "I mean, I don't mean to brag, but I was already doing that before I turned one, too. Chip off the ol' block." Tony smiled as Pete turned towards him, letting go of the table, putting his hands out towards Tony. "Are you trying to show off for me now? Alright, come on, show me what you've learned," Tony said, putting his hands out, palms up, for Peter.

Peter was concentrated, determined, to make it over to his Daddy. He put one unsteady foot out in front him, followed by the other, letting go completely of the table. He did it again, then again, quick steps propelling him over to Tony before he almost fall into Tony's arms. Tony grinned at him and picked him up.

"Look at you! You made it over to me!" Tony blew a raspberry on Peter's cheek and set him in his lap. "Mary, why didn't you tell me he had learned to walk?" He was secretly keeping a folder on his private server at home of all of Peter's firsts. It was something that Jarvis had suggested.

When Mary didn't answer, he looked over to see her hand over his mouth, but her eyes were sparkling. "That's because those were his first steps, Tony."

Tony's eyes widened a little and he looked back at Peter who was reading out to grab one of his toys on the floor again. "His first steps? And they were to me?" Tony blinked, thinking about what had just happened.

"Well, why wouldn't he want to walk to his Da-"

"Not my title," Tony stopped her out of habit, looking over when she walked over. She set down a plate with a small cake on it, with a single red candle on it. Peter dropped his toy and squealed at the sight of the cake. "You're going to give him more cake?"

"Everyone just had cupcakes at the party," Mary said, sitting down across from Tony and Peter. "I thought that you and Peter could share your own cake. Making memories and all that."

"At one year old, I'm not sure if he'll actually-" Mary reached over, putting a finger over Tony's mouth, stopping him.

"Look, there's cake, and Peter wants to share." Mary made a motion to Peter reaching for the little cake.

"I can take a hint," Tony chuckled a little. And if he didn't have to explain to Pepper later why one of his outfits had chocolate cake remains when she picked up his dry cleaning, then he wasn't complaining.

* * *

 **July 2006**

"You missed the ceremony?" Mary asked as Tony worked on his hot rod in the workshop. "Your best friend went to give you an award, and-"

"Well, they didn't tell me, or else I would have been there," Tony countered.

"I think the point of a surprise is that they don't tell you what's going to happen. Peter, don't you even think about it." Tony smirked a little. Whatever Peter was about to do, he was all Tony. Mary never failed to remind him of that.

"What's the little genius going to do?" Tony asked, reaching for a different tool.

"Going to put a new design on my freshly painted wall," Mary grumped a little, and Tony heard the disgruntled huff of Peter.

"No, Mama. Color," Peter argued.

"Color on the paper, baby." There was the rustling of papers, and the movement of some crayons and markers. "Come say Hi to Da-"

"Tony, to Tony," the engineer quickly corrected. He could practically hear Mary rolling her eyes. After nearly two years, she was still trying to get him to accept the 'Dad' word. There was a little shuffle as the phone was probably being pressed to Peter's ear. "Hey, Petey."

"Hi!" Tony couldn't help but smile at Peter's excited voice. "You fly today?" He asked in his broken sentences, still learning, quickly, to put together his thoughts into words. "Go bye-bye?"

"Yeah, buddy, that is today." Tony glanced at the clock that Jarvis was projecting onto the screen that showed the hot rods engine. He should have left already, but he had promised Mary that he would call to say bye to Pete. "I'll be leaving very soon."

"Come over?" Pete asked him hopefully.

"Sure thing," Tony nodded a little, even if the little boy couldn't see it. "As soon as I get back home, I'll come over. Did your Mom tell you where I was going?"

"Uhhhh, maybe?" Tony let out an amused chuckled.

"I'm going over the ocean, and I'm going to a different country." Tony leaned up a little, taking his attention off of the engine. "Remember when I showed you that globe? The round one with all the blue on it?"

"I like blue," Peter said seriously, but Tony knew that he remembered. "It spinned."

"That's right, Petey," Tony smiled a little. "Ask your Mom to show you where I'm going, later, okay?" Jarvis pulled up a little screen, showing Pepper Potts on the phone, walking through the mansion, heading downstairs. "Listen up, buddy, don't draw on Mama's wall until I get back, yeah?"

"Otay!" He could hear Peter grinning. "You leave now?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to leave now. Be good for your Mom, and I will see you real soon. Bye, Petey."

"Come soon! Bye-bye Daddy!" Tony froze a little when he heard Peter say the word that he had been trying to avoid.

"No, Peter, wait," Mary called from the background. "Don't hang-" The line went dead as Peter hung up the phone, and Jarvis started playing his music again. Peter had just called him Daddy.

He went back to his engine, thoughts becoming jumbled as he pulled a panel off, Pepper coming in and trying to get him to his plane.

* * *

He was an engineer. He was a CEO. He was young still. He was- He was under attack. The last soldier got out of the car, telling him not to move, which didn't really fill him with confidence when he saw the young man fall to the ground, holes appearing int he side of the humvee. Rhodey, Rhodey would know to do.

He quickly slid out of the humvee, trying to ignore the unsteadiness of his legs, the shake in his hands. He looked around, eyes lighting on one of his guns on the ground and grabbed it. Tony tried to fire it, tried to reload it, but it wouldn't budge. Cursing, he threw the jammed weapon to the ground.

The humvee behind him, that's where Rhodey was. "Rhodey!" He screamed, keeping his back against the truck. "Rhodey!" Rhodey would make sure that he got back home, that he got back to seeing Peter.

"Get down!" He barely heard Rhodey shouting back, but he could see his arm movements. "Get down!" Tony could do that, he could get down, get to safety. Ducking down, he ran, trying to present as little of a target as possible. There! He could take cover behind those rocks, boulder, whatever!

He threw himself to the ground, crawled over and pulled out his phone. Yes, it was late in the States, but all his mind wanted to do was call Mary, to talk to Peter. He started pressing buttons, stupid country codes, international calling, all the- -thunk-

... He knew that logo. He knew that weapon. He had built that weapon.

Tony threw himself up, trying to get away, but logically he knew he wouldn't get away, not in time. The blast threw his body back through the air, landing on his back. His chest Hurt, it stung, his head was swimming. Tony gripped the buttons of his shirt, ripping it open, looking at the armored vest, noting for a second that it was darkening with something.

The next thing he knew was pain. He could hear this screaming, tortured sounds of someone, but he couldn't focus. There were people around him, and everything just hurt! The screaming, that was him. His body shook, it convulsed in pain. It felt like someone was cutting him open. Then, finally, finally, his vision faded to black, the pain drifting away as he lost consciousness again.

* * *

Water. When he had woken up, attached to the new electromagnet, he had been thirsty. Stuck in a cave, in the desert, in a dry land, he had craved it. Tony changed his mind as his head was forced into the tub of water once more. They pushed his body down further, water splashing up, hitting the new chest piece, the exposed wires. He gasped underwater as he felt the shocks, the sparks across his body. Images flashed before his eyes, people, places, things.

 _"Daddy!"_

* * *

Yinsen, that was the man that had saved his life, he was nice. As nice as could be for someone who was also being held captive. The man also had a suit on, and a little part of Tony missed his own suits from back home. Tony worked better without a suit though, clothes that could easily get dirty. But the man had hit a nerve while they were playing their game.

"Got a family?" Tony asked him, pouring some water for them as Yinsen rolled the dice.

"Yes, and I will see them when I leave here. And you, Stark?" He looked up at Tony. Tony froze a little, looked at the man, then down at his mug. Did he? Yes, he had Peter, he had a son, but was he truly family. Tony hadn't acted like a Father, like a Dad should. Not that he had the best role model growing up. Tony had tried to take some cues from his butler Jarvis, but he hadn't been a father to him. Howard hadn't prepared him to have a family. Tony knew what not to do, but he didn't know what was the best thing to do with Peter. So was Tony really family with Peter?

Yinsen picked up on this, and the little unsure sound that Tony made, hummed, and nodded once. "So you're a man who has everything," he paused for a second, "and nothing."

Tony looked back down at the game board. "For now." Yinsen raised an eyebrow at the inventor. "I, uh, I have a son." The doctor looked surprised at this. He had met Tony Stark once, as he had mentioned to him, and he followed him in the tabloids a little, it was hard not to hear about the exploits of Tony Stark. But he had never heard about the Stark Industries CEO actually having a son.

"I see him, a few times a month." And as Tony said it, he knew it sounded pathetic now. What kind of father only sees his child a handful of times a month? "I try for once a week." His voice was weaker than he wanted.

"Does his mother not want you around?" Yinsen asked he moved the marble pieces, handing the cup and dice over to Tony and taking his own water mug.

Tony hesitated, wincing at himself. Peter was almost two now. Tony had wasted two years already. "Uh, no," he shook his head. "I didn't want to be around, actually."

"Doesn't sound like you'll be doing that when you get home," Yinsen said with a little smirk. Tony nodded. He sure as hell would change that

And then they had a plan. The suit was almost built, almost finished, and he had finished the power up sequence on the shit laptop they had provided them. He double checked the wires tot he bomb on the door as Yinsen hooked up the suit pieces to the contraption.

"Okay, say it again," Yinsen prompted Tony as he suited up. They checked the gloves, the jacket, before bolting on the chest and arm pieces.

"Forty-one steps straight ahead," Tony started to say. They'd been over for days now. "Then sixteen steps, that's from the door." This was the map that they would use to get out, this was Tony's map to get back to Peter. When they were out Tony would pay to have Yinsen's family moved to wherever he wanted, he'd get them a nice house, a car, whatever he wanted. "Fork right, thirty-three steps, turn right."

There was banging at the door now, and yelling. It was happening a little faster than Tony thought, but it seemed they were being discovered already. The blast and the boom from the bomb threw him off, and he could see the shocked look on Yinsen's face as well.

"How'd that work?" Tony couldn't help but ask.

"Oh my goodness," Yinsen murmured before coming back over to Tony, finishing getting Tony in the suit. "It worked all right."

"That's what I do." Tony said with a light air, but a heavy heart. That's what he did, and that's what had gotten him with an arc reactor in his chest. Before he knew it the computer was running, Tony was locked in the suit, and Yinsen had this look in his eye.

"We need more time," Yinsen murmured and Tony blinked. "I'm gonna go buy you some time."

"Stick to the plan!" Tony yelled. He would get Yinsen out of this alive, he would do it. He would repay this man for keeping him alive, for giving him a chance to get back to his son, to change his life. "Stick to the plan!" Yinsen ran off, grabbing a gun, shooting off into the hallway. "Yinsen!" He was breathing heavily and looked back to the progress bar, willing it to finish faster.

It felt like hours, even though it must have been maybe a minute. The lights dimmed, the helmet came down, and he felt the power rush through the lines through the suit. It didn't feel as heavy now, he could move, and he could get out of there, he could find Yinsen and get them out.

The Ten Rings fell before him like bugs, their bullets bouncing off the suit. The door they tried to block him with, child's play to knock down. The first sign of distress he noticed was when he swung his arm too hard, getting it stuck in the rock wall. This was a part of his life that he was going to end. Never again would something he created be used to kill, to destroy, to torture. This was not the legacy that he wanted to leave for Peter, for his son to grow up seeing.

He counted out the 33 steps, then turned right. "Yinsen!" There he was, on the ground, but alive.

"Watch out!" Yinsen called out to him, voice weak, but audible in the suit. Tony stopped short then leaned back when he heard the projectile headed right for him. It hit the wall and Tony put his arm out, opening a panel in the arm, arming his own little missile, and firing right away. Silence, the man went down.

"Stark." Tony leaned down on his knee, raising the face plate, to get Yinsen up.

"Come on, we gotta go." Tony looked around, maybe there was something that he could put Yinsen on, like a stretcher. "Move for me, come, we got a plan." They had a plan to get out of there. "We're gonna stick to it."

"This was always the plan, Stark," Yinsen said softly, and Tony looked at him, confused.

"Come on, you're gonna go see your family, see my family. Get up." Tony was ready to do a fireman's carry if he had too.

"My family is dead." The admission froze Tony's insides. "I'm going to see them now, Stark." He must have seen the look on Tony's face. "It's okay. I want this," Yinsen nodded a little. "I want this."

Tony had to bite back some tears, a tiny, tiny, smile on his lips as he understood what Yinsen was saying. He took a breath and gave a little nod. "Thank you for saving me," he near about whispered, but the Doctor had heard him.

"Don't waste it. Don't waste your life." Yinsen looked into Tony's eyes. "Get back to your son." Tony stayed with him, until he took his last breath. Tony turned his head to the exit to the cave, face set, determination, and revenge, coursing through his veins. He was going to end this.

The bullets pinged against the suit annoyingly, the sounds ringing through his ears. "My turn," he said icily, putting up his arms, shooting out flames. Chaos erupted, people running, ammunition and missiles exploding. Tony was going to take out every Stark weapon in this camp. It was when the turret started firing that he felt some resistance in the suit. He had to put up his arm to try and block the bullets, the suit starting to lose some power from his arc reactor.

By some force of luck, (for the terrorists), a bullet lodged in the gear of the leg of the suit, sending him down to kneel. He never stopped shooting out the flames though. A few more explosions and he knew that he had a shot window to get out of there. He forced himself up, leg stiff and straight, looked down at the arm and flipped a switch. His suit was propelled up into the air, the explosions of the weapons below him giving a little extra boost, and he was flying! Tony Stark was flying through the air!

And then, he wasn't flying anymore, he was falling. He let out a shout, the boots shorting out at the top of his arc. At least there was sand below him, not rock, not mountain side.

The sand wasn't a soft landing though. But, Tony Stark was alive. He was alive, and now he had to get home.

The explosions should have been tracked, the military should have been able to see them; he had made enough of a ruckus during his escape. Now he had to just keep walking, to make himself visible from the air, to be seen, to-

He turned his head, stumbling in the sand, the sound of blades in the air coming closer. Helicopters! Tony started to wave his arm, shouting, something welling up in his chest. They had been looking for him, they had come, they had actually come!

Tony fell to his knees, holding up a peace sign, an annoying stinging behind his eyes. He saw Rhodey hop out of the helicopter, running towards him. Rhodey, his best friend, he was leading the charge.

"How was the 'fun-vee'?" Tony let out a strangled laugh and Rhodey pulled Tony into him, concealing silent sobs, but Rhodey could feel the tremble in his body.

It was when they were on the helicopter, headed back for the base, that Tony took Rhodey's arm. "I don't want the press to report I'm back yet," Tony told him. "I don't want them to know until I'm heading back for the States." Rhodey tilted his head, but nodded a little. "Rhodey,..." He took a breath, but was interrupted when the helicopter shook as they landed.

* * *

Tony took a breath, arm in his sling, suit on, sitting next to Rhodey on the cargo plane. They were getting closer to California, and he knew that the news would be reporting his return soon, about half an hour after the plane landed. "Rhodey," he tried again. The other man looked over at him, and Tony stared straight forward, getting his courage up. "I need you to do me a favor, after we get back."

"Of course, Tony," his friend nodded. "What ever you need."

"Don't agree so quickly." He could feel Rhodey's eyebrow raise. "I need you to pick something up at a store for me." Rhodey was about to open his mouth, probably to ask if Tony was serious; but the engineer continued. "It's not for me, it's for my son." That stopped Rhodey.

Tony dared a look back at the man next to him, trying not to smile at the bewildered look on the mans face. "My son, he's turning two tomorrow, and I'll never be able to make it to the store to get his gift without being seen."

"Two?" Rhodey exclaimed quietly. "When did you find out about this?"

"A couple weeks after he was born," Tony answered. Rhodey was trying to figure out just how long Tony knew about this, and how long he had been keeping it a secret. "No one else knows about him, or his mom," Tony prompted. "Not even Pepper or Happy. Well, technically Pepper knows, but she doesn't know that the paternity test was positive. Not the point I was trying to make, but-"

"I'll get his present, Tony," Rhodey told him, cutting him off. Tony seemed to sage a little in relief, not knowing that he was tensing a little. Then after a second he asked what Tony was waiting for. "What's his name?"

"Peter Richard Parker," Tony answered, a small smile on his face. He carefully reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone, pulling up the picture that Mary had texted him a couple days before he had left for Afghanistan. Peter was wearing a blue Captain America hoodie that Tony had gotten him, a little pair of jeans, and a red shirt, grinning up at the camera with frosting all over his face. "He's a little ham, that's for sure."

Tony wanted to call them, wanted to hear their voices, but he had purposely not turned the service back on, knowing that he would be bombarded. He had nearly cried when Rhodey had handed him back his phone back in Afghanistan. They had found it in the sand, not far from where Tony had been injured, and Tony had been afraid that he had lost some of his favorite pictures of Peter, the ones that he didn't have Jarvis save, just in case.

"He looks just like you," Rhodey said, smiling at the picture, and Tony felt a little surge of pride. His best friend was smiling at his sons picture. That was his son. "I won't tell anyone, Tony, but i do wanna meet him sometime."

"I promise," Tony nodded, putting his phone back in his pocket.

* * *

Tony Stark was,... selfish. He sat in the drivers seat of the black car, on the dark street, half way down the block from a familiar building. It was late, but not too late, but he was restless, and he couldn't help himself. He knew that he should be resting, should be at home. Jarvis had the scans of the arc reactor, and as much as he need to make a new one, he knew the power would hold up for at least another three weeks if it came down to it. He needed to see his son tonight. Tony grabbed the box from the passenger seat, the present that Rhodey had picked up, and had even gotten wrapped. Taking one more breath, he opened the door, and stepped out, pocketing his keys and heading for the apartment building that Mary and Peter lived in.

He used his good arm to knock on the door, not too loud, but not too soft. Peter had probably just gone to bed, but he kind of hoped he hadn't. Tony had been unable to get a hold of them after the press conference, and he knew that they would have been watching; everyone would have been watching.

After a minute or two Tony knocked again, no one coming to the door yet. He vaguely heard the main door opening, but didn't pay it any attention, until he heard a gasp.

"Tony?" He turned quickly hearing Mary's whispered exclamation. She was standing there, keys in her hand, holding Peter in her other arm, the little boy asleep against her shoulder. Tony felt himself freeze, just taking them in, looking at Peter, at how he had grown even in just the three months that he was gone.

"Uh, hey," he said a little sheepishly, then held up the present. "I know it's not until tomorrow, but I have Peter's birthday present."

Mary teared up a little and hurried over to him, wrapping her free arm around his neck to hug him. He held back a wince and a hiss and hugged her back with one arm, his other hand reaching up to softly run through Peter's hair. He teared up a little himself, being this close to his son again.

When Mary let go she quickly unlocked the door to the apartment and ushered Tony in. He set the box down and Mary went around turning on lights. "I'm sorry if it's really late," Tony said quietly. A little part of him wanted to wake up Peter, but another part of him, a new more responsible part of him, knew that Peter needed to sleep. "I guess, I just couldn't help myself."

Mary gave him a soft smile, then put a hand on Peter's back, rubbing gently. "Peter, wake up baby, we're home." Peter snuffled a little in her shoulder, wiggling a bit. "There's a surprise for you baby." The soon to be two-year-old sat up a little in her arms, still tired, then stretched his arms. Mary put her forehead against the boys, and whispered something to him.

Tony felt tense, and he didn't know why. It had only been three months, but what if Peter didn't want to see him? What if he started crying? What if Tony had hurt him by not showing up? Did Peter think that Tony didn't love him anymore? That he had abandoned him? Did-

"Daddy!" Tony looked at Peter when he shouted for him, throwing his arms out towards Tony. Tony felt his lip wobble a little and took a big step closer to sweep Peter into his arms, holding him close to him. He felt little shakes in Peter's body, and then he heard the quiet cries. "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy," Peter chanted quietly, his face against Tony's neck.

"That's right, Petey," Tony said quietly, a tiny tremor in his voice. "Daddy's here, Daddy's got you." Mary looked at Tony, blinking when Tony claimed the title of Dad. A few silent tears rolled down Tony's cheek, sitting down on the couch to hold onto Peter, showing no sign of letting him go. "Oh, I missed you so much, I missed you everyday."

"You were gone so long," Peter cried quietly, voice a little muffled into his neck. "You didn't come back."

"I'm so sorry, buddy, I'm sorry." Tony rubbed his back, running his other hand through the little boys hair. "I tried to get back to you sooner."

"You came back," Peter said this time. "You came back for my birfday. Mama said you wouldn't miss it."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Peter fell asleep in Tony's arms later that night, and Tony didn't care. He'd hold his son forever. He and Mary had managed to change Peter into his pajamas without Tony having to let go of him, and now Mary was sitting on the couch in her own night clothes, a mug of tea in her hands.

"He missed you so much," Mary said quietly, not wanting to wake up Peter. She had a feeling that he wouldn't wake up though, not now that he was with Tony. "I didn't want to tell him that something had happened, that the news was reporting you missing, but after the first three weeks..."

Tony nodded a little. "There were times I thought I wasn't going to make it out, and I thought I'd never see him again. I fought, so hard, to be able to come back here." He gently rubbed Peter's back. "I want to change things, I want to be a father that he deserves."

"Tony," Mary said softly. "You are-"

"No, I'm not," Tony shook his head. "You raise him, you do everything with him, and for him, and I just show up to reap the rewards. He's going to grow up thinking I'm the fun parent, or he's going to think of me as the absent parent." Mary tilted her head a little, watching Tony. This was a completely different man. "I show up a few times a month. Three out of thirty days, that's just sad, Mary."

"So, what are you going to do about it?" She asked him. She wasn't going to complain if he wanted to take more responsibility, her own job was starting to demand a little more attention from her, and Peter was starting to spend more time at her parents place.

"Well, I can't go public with him yet," Tony said first. "I think after my announcement today, that would be a bad idea." Mary nodded a little.

"And I don't think my job would appreciate the attention we would get." Tony nodded at Mary. He knew that she worked for the government, for the FBI, and they probably didn't want that spotlight.

"I have let someone know, though," Tony admitted and Mary raised an eyebrow. "He's my best friend, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, or Rhodey. He, uh, he didn't stop until he found me over there," Tony finished quietly. "I know that he can keep a secret. But, he could also help us when I can't show up in person." Mary wondered how long Tony had been thinking about this. "I want to be more involved in life, I want to be there, to do things with him, and for him. I want to have a room in my home just for him to sleep in, a room that's just his."

"Let's take it one step at a time, Tony," Mary said, but she was smiling. "Can you stay tonight? I know it's already late, but if you have to-"

"I can stay," Tony nodded. "I took a different car, no one will know it's mine. I don't think I would be able to let him go anyway..."

"You're going to be so sore if you sleep with him in your arms, like that," Mary told him as she got up to put her mug in the sink. "You can sleep in my room with him, I'll sleep out here."

"I can't make you sleep on the couch in your own house," Tony said, frowning a little.

"The couch is a pullout, Tony," she smiled at him, pushing his shoulder lightly, making him get up from the couch. She pulled off the cushions then effortlessly pulled out the mattress, the support bar coming to rest just past the coffee table, the clearance of the pullout not requiring the coffee table to be moved.

"Then I can sleep here," Tony offered.

"Peter is used to sleeping either in his room, or in mine if he has bad dreams," Mary told him as she went to the hall closet to get a blanket and pillow. "It's just for one night, Tony, just sleep in my room."

Tony let out a little sigh, smiling, and nodding. "Alright, but when you spend the night at my place-"

"Again," she smirked at him.

"- I'll make sure that you have an actual bed, not some pullout," Tony finished.

"Go to sleep, Tony," Mary said, chuckling softly. "I'll see you in the morning, with the sun."

Tony nodded a couple times, then turned to head down the hall, Peter in tow. He opened the door to Mary's room, saw that the bed was still made, a few clothes laying on the chest at the end of the bed, but for the most part it was clean of anything else. The glow from Tony's arc reactor was visible through his shirt in the dark, and he didn't have to turn on the light to see around the room because of the glow.

Pulling back the covers, Tony gently pulled Peter off of him, laying him down in the middle of the bed. Tony took off his jacket, and shoes, then slid int he bed beside him, pulling the comforter over them, and Peter instantly cuddled back up to Tony, his little hand now over the arc reactor, snuggling against Tony's chest. Tony kissed the top of Peter's head, and wrapped an arm around him. He had no intentions of going anywhere, of leaving Peter ever again.


	2. October 2006

**Summary:** **Tony is no stranger to paternity claims from his female conquests, there's a system in place for them. But when one of the tests actually comes back positive, he makes a rash decision to not tell anyone about it, not even Pepper Potts. All Mary Parker wants is for Tony to spend a little time with their son, and she'll badger Tony Stark into showing up at least twice a month in any way that she can.**

 **And then he goes missing for three months in Afghanistan. Tony has a lot to think about in his life now, how he wants to run his company, how his life is going to change with the arc reactor, and what he's going to do about his son, Peter. Then, the Avengers Initiative pops up, and in waltzes his childhood hero, and enemy, Captain America.**

 **Follows IM1, IM2, Avengers, Cap2. Not canon-compliant, but follows the plots.**

 **A/N: The next chapter will finish up IM1.  
**

 **This is un-Beta'd so I apologize for errors, I'll catch them as I go along.**

 **I own nothing except my imagination, everything else belongs to Marvel.**

* * *

Tony wrinkled his nose a little. He had closed his eyes to give them a little relief as the sun acme up, shining through the window, and now there was something on his nose. No, wait. Something was, petting his nose? Tony opened his eyes and saw Peter's eyes were open, looking at him, his little hand petting him. When Tony's eyes opened he grinned, letting out a little squeal.

"Daddy," he exclaimed, sleep still in his voice. "Still here."

Tony's arm tightened around Peter a little more, and he dropped a kiss on his forehead. "Yeah, I'm still here, Petey." Pete snuggled against Tony's chest, hand tapping the arc reactor a couple times.

"You have a light," Peter said softly, looking at the blue white glow.

"Yup," Tony nodded a little.

"Does it hurt?" Bright brown eyes looked up at Tony, then back down at the reactor.

"It used to," Tony told him. Of course it hurt him, it was huge compared to his chest, and it had a strange energy running through it that a human body wasn't meant to handle. The latter he had gotten used to though. But the weight of his sitting on his ribs, on his chest? That he didn't think he would ever get used to. Jarvis would have specs for a thinner, more efficient, model ready by now. But he wasn't about to tell his two year old son that it hurt, or how he had gotten it.

"I like blue," Peter said, running his fingers around the outside, tracing the circle. "Mama say bad people hurt you." Tony blinked a little. He wondered just how much him being gone had affected Peter. "That they took you."

"They did, when I was working," Tony said carefully. "They wanted me to make them something, something bad."

"Did you?" His little voice asked.

"Nope." Tony shook his head back and forth. "Because, those bad people would have used that bad thing to hurt lots of other people. They might have hurt you, and so I had to make sure that that didn't happen." Tony carded his fingers through Peter's hair. "But you want to know what's more important?" Little hazel eyes looked up at him. "That today is your birthday!" Peter suddenly grinned and jumped up, hands and knees knocking into Tony, making him grunt and chuckle.

"I'm two!" Peter went to jump off the bed and Tony wrapped his arms around Peter's waist and sat up. He let the toddler down on his feet and watched him scramble out of the bedroom, to no doubt wake up his mom. Now that Peter was gone from the room, Tony took a moment to run his hands through his hair, and let out a yawn, the night of no sleeping catching up to him. He wanted to watch Peter sleep, but he also knew that he would have nightmares, and he couldn't subject the little boy to that.

Tony brushed his shirt a little, trying to smooth it out a bit, before heading out into the hall. "Pancakes!" He heard Peter shout excitedly. Tony pulled out his phone, pulling up the recording option. "But it's not Saturday!"

"But it's your birthday," Mary told the ecstatic little boy as he pulled himself up into his booster seat. "That means your get special pancakes." There was a little gasp as Tony leaned against the wall, filming Mary and Peter.

"Blueberry?!" Peter looked like his eyes might pop out of his head. Mary was standing over the stove, flipping a pancake out of the pan and onto a plate. Turning around she put the plate in front of Peter, the dark little berries visible on the perfectly cooked food. Peter squealed and jumped, almost falling out of his seat. Tony rushed forward, grabbing the collar of Peter's shirt and pulling him back straight. "Daddy!" Peter turned his head to look up at Tony, and unknowingly into the camera. "I get blueberry pancakes!"

Tony chuckled and smiled at him. "I don't think that Daddy knows why that's so important," Mary said as she helped Peter cut his pancakes. "Why don't you tell him?"

"Every Saturday Mama makes pancakes," Peter smiled, reaching for the syrup bottle with both hands. "But on reallllllly special days, she makes blueberry! I like blueberries."

"I like blueberries, too," Tony said, smiling, as he shut off the recording. He turned on the mobile data on his phone, and sent the video to Rhodey. He was glad that he had gone through all the messages at the mansion before coming over.

"I made plenty of pancakes," Mary said, smiling at Tony. "Sit next to Peter."

"I'm not used to eating breakfast," Tony said, even as he sat in the chair anyway.

"You're not used to being awake at this time, let's be honest," Mary countered with a smirk.

"Touche," Tony snorted a little, smiling as Mary put down a mug of coffee. He blinked when a little plastic fork with a few pieces of pancake on the end appeared from the side of his face. He glanced over and saw Peter holding it out to Tony, smiling with syrup already around his mouth, little splotches of blueberry on his lips

"Eat, Daddy," Peter said with a smile, waving the little fork. "Birfday pancakes!"

"But, it's not my birthday," Tony told him, turning into his chair a little to face the little boy. "Those are your cakes, buddy."

"I wanna share." Peter grinned. Tony blinked then leaned in to take the bite that Peter was offering, and the little boy happily turned back to his plate. Mary sat down at the other chair at the table, putting down two plates on the table for them.

"We've been working on sharing," Mary told him, pouring some juice for herself. "Getting him ready for school."

"Have you been looking at schools? Like I told you to so long ago?" Tony smirked a little at the look she gave him. "I get that look a lot, usually from my personal assistant, when she's secretly hoping that I'll just stop talking and generally making her job harder."

"And yet, it doesn't stop you?" Mary tilted her head at him.

"Character flaw."

Mary snorted.

Tony phone dinged and he grabbed it, seeing a response from Rhodey. 'Don't forget what you said on the plane.' Tony let his lips turn up just a little in a smile.

* * *

Tony looked at the guest room, leaning against the door jamb, taking in the current decor and layout. It was right by his room, the Master Bedroom.

"It seems a little big, Sir," Jarvis intoned.

"But he'll grow into it," Tony countered. "I'm sure teenagers need lots of room."

"We're still more than a decade from that eventuality," Jarvis said as Tony took his tablet and moved some furniture around on the generated layout. "I believe that it is natural for children to change their rooms several times during their adolescents with their parents."

"Yeah, I wouldn't know about that," Tony muttered, moving the bed. "Although, does it count if I changed rooms with different boarding schools?"

"I'm afraid not, Sir."

"Didn't think so," Tony nodded.

"Sir, Colonel Rhodes is arriving," Jarvis said, bringing up the camera view of outside the front door.

"Go ahead and let him in." Tony swiped away the camera. "Go ahead and let him know where I am, maybe he can help me."

"I was not aware that designing a child's room was that difficult-"

"Mute," Tony grumbled. "I think you're developing Sass, and I don't like it."

"Upset that your AI is starting to take after you?" Tony looked over as Rhodey walked down the hall, over to his friend. "Consider this a warning, for what Peter might be like."

"You mean awesome, he'll be Awesome." Tony pointed at Rhodey. "Good job on the present by the way, he loved it."

"You practically gave me the SKU number, Tony," Rhodey rolled his eyes good naturedly.

"Every Stark needs their first "Little Scientists Kit"," Tony urged as Rhodey leaned over to look at what was on the tablet.

"And if he doesn't want to go into science, or anything else like it?" The military man asked, moving the bed around on the screen. Tony wrinkled up his face a little, but didn't undo what Rhodey had done. "What if he wants to be an artist? Or a chef?"

"Then I'll get him a paint set, or a shadow with an executive chef," Tony answered simply. "But, until he's old enough to start to figure that out, I'm going to cultivate the genius brewing inside of him."

Rhodey watched him for a few moments, watching as Tony threw himself into this, like he did with most projects, but there was something different about him this time. "You know what the weirdest thing is right now?" Tony hummed, but didn't look over at him. "Is watching you actually act like a Dad, with responsibility, and all that. Have you even had a drink, yet?"

"I had three glasses of scotch last night," Tony said automatically. "I don't drink when I'm going to see Peter."

"Sir has done since the discovery of young Master Peter," Jarvis filled in and Tony grunted a little.

"It was one of Mary's rules," Tony told him. "I mean, back then, it was an annoying rule, but now I'm glad that I at least listened to it. Made me less like,..."

"Judging from that video you sent me two days ago, he's a happy kid." Rhodey knew that he was comparing himself to Howard, he always would compare himself to that man.

"That's all Mary's work," Tony said shaking his head. "I showed up a few times a month, talked to the kid and played with him."

"And believe it or not, that actually helps, Tony," Rhodey assured him. "Specially for growing kids, who need their social-"

"Why are you here again?" Tony stopped and looked over at Rhodey.

"You asked me to come over," he told him. "Remember, you called me yesterday and we had this whole conversation. I said that the end of my 72 hour leave was coming up,and then I'd actually have to go back to doing my military job, and you said-"

"Right, I remember now," Tony said waving his hand to stop him. "I need a favor."

"A favor?" Rhodey raised an eyebrow at him. "You're going to ask me for a favor?"

"I was held in captivity for three months," Tony turned to face him. "I had to traumatize my PA into hooking up my new arc reactor," he tapped the new model to emphasize his point, "and-"

"Tony, alright!" Rhodey rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What do you need?"

"I need you to go pick up Peter." Tony grinned. "Pepper is gone for a couple days, I was told to lay low by Obie, and all the work that I could be doing down in the workshop can't happen until Jarvis is done running models and specs."

"I am working diligently, Sir," Jarvis assured him.

"I talked to Mary, and she said that she had to work late tonight, and that Peter had been spending a lot of nights at his grandparents place-"

"Which doesn't make it a bad thing," Rhodey interjected.

"-and I asked if it would help, and if it would be okay, if maybe Peter spent the night here." Tony finished, like Rhodey hadn't said anything. "And you Pooh Bear, don't have to be back to base until tomorrow night."

"So you need a chaperon for you to be a chaperon?" Rhodey asked with a smirk.

"... I'm keeping my promise of letting you meet my kid," Tony grumbled back to him. He wasn't about to let Rhodey know that he was a little correct. That he would feel more comfortable if Rhodey spent the night, so that he wasn't alone.

"Count me in," Rhodey said with a smile. "I'll need to get an overnight bag-"

"Like you don't have one in your car, already," Tony said, eyebrow raised. "Also, I'm giving you the most important task, right next to saving my handsome ass from a desert, of taking me to pick up Peter." Rhodey raised both eyebrow, a little surprised. "I can't take any of my cars, and I can't ask Happy. If the press sees my car, even the town car leave, they'll follow and they'll see Peter."

"And you and Mary have agreed to not say anything yet?" Rhodey asked.

"Nope, not yet," Tony shook his head. "She kind of works for the FBI, and Pete's only two, so he doesn't need that kind of attention."

"Probably good thinking, but that's going to make being an effective Dad a little hard."

Tony walked into the guest room and started to strip the blankets and sheets off the bed. "Yeah, I'm working on that plan. I've got a few things on my mind."

"Enough things that keep you from sleeping?" Rhodey asked, watching Tony pause, but kept at his task. "I can see that you haven't slept in a while."

"Sleeping is overrated," Tony mumbled. From the other side of the bed Tony pulled out some fresh blue sheets. Rhodey blinked, unaware of where the sheets had come from. He stopped questioning things, well most things, with Tony a long time ago. Maybe at MIT.

"Have you slept since coming home?" He walked over to help Tony put on the new sheets.

"Of course I have, I even have the unmade bed as proof," Tony responded easily.

"Perhaps I should have asked if you've gotten any good sleep," Rhodey amended, rolling his eyes a little. "It's okay if you haven't, Tony. Like you said, you were gone for three months. You beat all the odds, and-"

"I'm Tony Stark, I always beat the odds."


	3. Oct 2006 - Nov 2006

**Summary:** **Tony is no stranger to paternity claims from his female conquests, there's a system in place for them. But when one of the tests actually comes back positive, he makes a rash decision to not tell anyone about it, not even Pepper Potts. All Mary Parker wants is for Tony to spend a little time with their son, and she'll badger Tony Stark into showing up at least twice a month in any way that she can.**

 **And then he goes missing for three months in Afghanistan. Tony has a lot to think about in his life now, how he wants to run his company, how his life is going to change with the arc reactor, and what he's going to do about his son, Peter. Then, the Avengers Initiative pops up, and in waltzes his childhood hero, and enemy, Captain America.**

 **Follows IM1, IM2, Avengers, Cap2. Not canon-compliant, but follows the plots.**

 **A/N: Iiiii may have been mistaken, I did not make it through the rest of Iron Man 1 in this chapter. Next chapter for sure, but Peter was demanding a lot of attention this chapter, and well, how can you say no to him? I'm having fun with this story, and apparently so is everyone else!**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**  
 **Anyway, enjoy more cuteness! Some of the lines were taken from the movie directly, (I'm watching it as I go), and that's all owned by Marvel, not by me.**

* * *

None of the press that was camped outside of the mansion took two glances at Rhodey's pick-up when it left, and when it eventually came back. They knew Lt Col Rhodes, they knew that he wouldn't answer any questions that Tony Stark, or Obidiah Stane, hadn't already answered. No, they wanted to see the man himself.

But this worked to Tony's advantage when they went to go pick up Peter. That meant that as he sat it he backseat, the press wouldn't see him through the tinted windows, and they weren't followed. He of course had dark sunglasses, and a baseball hat, the most cliche of disguises, but it seemed to work.

Mary had said that she warned her parents that he would be stopping by, but she took no responsibility for how they looked at him. Yeah, parents didn't usually like Tony Stark, specially old Tony Stark, before the 'incident'. Tony didn't care about what Mary's parents thought though, not when the door opened and Peter went running for him.

"Daddy!" A little body launched itself at Tony, and he leaned down and caught him, hugging him to his chest. Rhodey stood behind Tony, little smile as he watched them, seeing his best friend in a way he never thought he'd see him.

He knew that Afghanistan changed Tony, not just physically, but mentally, too. But he could see bits of Tony still peeking out. Pepper had called him when Tony insisted on having a party at the Dubai house the other day. Rhodey would probably be more worried that maybe Tony had changed too much, but as he saw Peter hugging Tony, and Tony's truly genuine smile, he wasn't as worried. Maybe this kid would be good for Tony.

"Hey, Petey." Tony stood up, lifting Peter up in his arms with him. He suppressed a shiver when Peter's hands found his arc reactor.

"Is different now?" Peter asked, looking up into his face. "Feels different."

"Yeah, it's a different model, buddy," Tony nodded. From the corner of his eye he saw Peter's grandparents walk into the room with Peter's bag. They were eyeing him up, judging if he was good enough for their daughter, and their grandson. He shifted Peter to his hip and took a step forward, hat and sunglasses already off, and extended his hand to the two elderly people. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Tony St-"

"We know who you are," the woman spoke first. There was Mary's fiery spirit. "I think that everyone in the world knows who you are now."

"Ah yes, well, the cameras don't always get my good side," Tony pasted on his patented charming smile. "I keep telling them to get the left." He stopped when he felt Rhodey touch his back, reminding him that he wasn't dealing with the usual business sharks. These were Peter's grandparents. "This is my best friend, and general guardian for the moment, Lt Col James Rhodes, but I call him Rhodey."

"He's tall," Peter whispered to Tony, looking over at Rhodey, who gave him a kind smile.

"Taller than you, maybe," Tony said, tickling Peter's sides, making him squeal with laughter and wiggle in his arm. "Alright, Petey," he stopped and set Peter on his feet, "Tell Grandma and Grandpa bye." Peter nodded and ran over to his grandparents and Tony glanced back at Rhodey. "This is why I'm not married," Tony whispered to Rhodey, and the military man had to put a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.

Peter's grandfather had grabbed Peter's overnight bag, as his grandmother helped the little boy put his backpack on. He walked over to Tony and held out the bag, the genius taking it automatically. "I'm sure Mary already filled you in, but Peter takes a bath at 7, and he's usually in bed no later than 9," Mary's father told him. He seemed to be a little warmer towards him than Mary's mother was. "He usually likes a story before bedtime. He wasn't sleeping well while you were, gone," Tony tried not to wince and feel guilty about that, "but we're getting him back on a schedule. He may have a nightmare-"

"I know how to handle those," Tony said quietly. The man studied him, then nodded.

"I served in Desert Storm," the man said suddenly and Tony raised an eyebrow. "I recognize someone healing, and coming to terms with PTSD," he held up a hand when Tony opened his mouth to protest. "My wife just cares very much for our daughter and grandson, and if she ever corners you, you're never going to hear the end of not marrying Mary right away, taking care of both her and Peter."

"I'm not marriage material," Tony said quietly.

"No, I expect you weren't." He smiled at Tony. Peter ran over to Tony, lifting his arms to be picked up again, the brunette obliging to pick him up in his arms. "Be a good boy, Peter," his grandpa kissed her forehead. "And if your Daddy needs help-"

"555-1719," Peter recited carefully, and clearly.

"That's right, you have him call us," the man chuckled and ruffled Peter's hair.

* * *

Peter had already had lunch, before they picked him up, so nap time came just after Tony showed him to his room. Rhodey understood now why Tony had changed the sheets to blue now; Peter had been overjoyed. "You remembered my favorite color, Daddy!"

Rhodey was in the kitchen when Tony shuffled in, making them a pizza, but looking to see what they could make for dinner that would be toddler friendly. "Is he asleep?"

"Yeah, didn't take long, I think the excitement of coming here, and the car ride tuckered him out," Tony said, taking a seat on the island stool. He was about to reach for a tumbler of scotch, but stopped when, a) the crystal decanter wasn't sitting there, and b) he remembered that Peter was actually in his house. "It took a little longer to get away though, because he had his little arms around my waist. I think the arc reactor is a nightlight for him."

"Yeah?" Rhodey put down a glass of sparkling apple juice for Tony, who wrinkled his nose a little, but accepted it. It was about as close to alcohol as he was going to get until Mary picked him up the next day. "How do you feel about that?" It had only been four days since Tony had come back home, and while he had had the arc reactor for longer than that, it had only been four days that he had had any time to come to terms with what happened over in the desert.

"It feels weird," Tony admitted, feeling a bit better as he smelled the pizza int he oven. It had probably been nearly two days since he had eaten actual food, and since he couldn't have any alcohol he would actually need food sustenance. "When he first saw it, he wanted to know if that was a light in my chest, and then he says, 'I like blue.' Rhodey, I like blue," Tony let out a little laugh. "In a fashion only kids can pull off. Sometimes his little finger will tap it, lightly, but he just puts his hand over it, like he's feeling it."

"Could be good for you," Rhodey said, pulling out some frozen chicken. "Might help you come to terms with it?" Tony leveled an irritated gaze at him, one that he reserved for people who thoguht he should go to therapy, or rehab. "You can't tell me that everything is normal, now, Tony."

"Of course not, I've got a son that needs attention, so obviously nothing is normal right now," Tony said, trying to make light of the subject. Something that was not unlike Tony Stark, at all. "I have to Watch my alcoholic intake now, Rhodey!" Rhodey couldn't help but roll his eyes a little.

"I don't think that's going to be very difficult for you," Rhodey said, closing the fridge doors to face Tony, a little smile on his face. "Seeing the way that kid is in love with you?" Tony preened a little at the compliment, and the fact. "And how you didn't flinch at the word, Daddy."

"It's a better honorarium than my PhD's," Tony said easily. "What exactly are you making there, pooh bear?"

"Not sure yet, something with chicken, but it'll be for dinner," Rhodey said looking back at the chicken, then moving to go for the pantry. "I have to take stock of what you actually have in your kitchen."

"Huh, I wasn't aware that there was actually food in my kitchen," Tony commented. "Pepper must have had groceries delivered when she heard I was coming back."

"Let's be sure to send her a fruit basket, because actually humans like Peter,a nd myself, need to eat food." Rhodey rolled his eyes a little at Tony's snort. "Did Mary give you a list of things that Peter's allergic too, or foods that he doesn't like right now?" After a few moments of silence, Rhodey looked back to see Tony's slightly panicked expression. "You don't remember do you?"

"Sir, Ms Parker left a list, and I scanned it for you," Jarvis spoke up and Tony visibly relaxed, only slightly. "Young Peter currently does not like to eat anything green, but he does like foods with a sauce in the in preparation."

"Sauces?" Tony tilted his head a little.

"For instance, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti or most pasta dishes-"

"Gotcha, gotcha," Tony nodded, cutting off his AI. "Alright, so let's bring up some recipes with chicken, and sauce. Any allergies?"

"None that have been reported, or discovered, Sir," Jarvis informed him.

"How about some chicken and penne?" Rhodey said from inside the pantry, holding up a box of pasta. "Feels kind of Italian?"

"Are you trying to appease to the Italian side of my family, Rhodey?" Tony asked as he walked over to grab the box.

"What? Pander to Tony Stark?" Rhodey grinned as he grabbed some other ingredients. "Should probably make a little snack, too, for when Peter wakes up."

"Uhhhh," Tony blinked. He was quickly finding out that he didn't actually know much about the day to day care of a child. He had to give Mary so much more credit than before. Tony stepped into the pantry, blinking a little at all the different foods; cans lined one shelf, with fresh fruit and vegetables on the other side. He found a unopened jar of peanut butter, a bag of raisins, and turned to find celery. "J used to make this for me, I think he called it, ants on a log?"

Rhodey glanced over and nodded. "It's kind of a classic, easy, snack. Surprised you actually know what it is."

"Ouch, right in the gut, Rhodey." Tony feigned stumbling out of the pantry, taking a direct hit from the older mans words. "I'm pretty sure I can get this right."

Rhodey had thought that he could leave the simple snack task to Tony, the brunette diving in after he easily decimated three pieces of pizza. But after an hour and a half, and Jarvis announced that Peter was showing signs of starting to wake up, he looked over and saw that Tony's hands were coated in peanut butter, a few raisins stuck to his fingers. There were about 6 completed pieces of celery snacks, though.

"Peanut butter comes off with soap, right?" Tony asked as he walked over to the sink, touching his wrist to the faucet to start the water.

"How did you get it all over both hands?" Rhodey asked. he was making a fresh sauce for the pasta, tomatoes and garlic sitting out, and some milk, thinking he might make a kind of alfredo sauce. "Did you not use a knife?"

"Of course I used a knife!" Tony frowned, scrubbing his hands of the sticky food substance. Sitting on the cutting board was a knife, completely covered in peanut butter. "I'm gonna go get Peter." Rhodey smiled a little as he watched Tony job up the stairs to the bedrooms.

Tony gently pushed open the door to Peter's room, seeing the little boy start to turn, waking up slowly. He walked in, sitting on the side of the bed, hand reaching over to gently rub his back. peter yawned, rolling onto his back, Tony biting his lip seeing the little face scrunched up in sleep. Sleepy eyes opened and saw Tony, then Peter smiled. Tony felt something nearly explode with warmth in his chest and he reached over to pick up Peter.

"Have a good nap?" Tony asked, leaning back against the pillows, letting Peter rest on his chest, still looking kind of sleepy.

"Uh huh," he nodded, rubbing his eyes, and putting his head on Tony's chest. "This bed it big."

"Yeah, it is, huh?" Tony let his fingers run through Peter's soft hair. The motion seemed to calm Tony, as he found himself doing it more and more when he was with the boy. "Is it too big for you?" Peter shook his head a little. "That's good."

"Is your bed big?" Peter asked, innocent brown eyes looking up at him.

"Yeah, my bed is bigger than this one though." Peter's eyes widened a little more, and Tony chuckled a little. "I'm an adult, though, I need a bigger bed!"

Peter giggled a little and pushed himself up to wrap his arms around Tony's neck. Tony smiled and wrapped his arm around Peter's waist, sitting up. "I've got a snack downstairs for you, and Rhodey is making dinner. How about we eat something, then I'll show you around the house?" Peter nodded, just content to being held for the moment.

Tony carried Peter to the Kitchen, sitting back down at the stool, but the snacks, looking over at Rhodey and his progress. Peter leaned over in Tony's arms, using his finger to wipe some peanut butter off the chopping board and putting it right into his mouth.

"You like chicken, right, Petey?" Tony asked, looking at the little boy, finger still in his mouth. He tutted with a smile when Peter smiled, sucking the last of the peanut butter from his finger. "You little sneak," he chuckled. "Alright, how about the grand tour? I have a big house, and if you're going to visit more often, you should know where everything is." Tony stood up, then stopped, eyes widened a little. "Oh! I am so bad, I didn't introduce you to Jarvis!"

"Jarbis?" Peter asked, trying to get some of the peanut butter from the roof of his mouth.

"He's my AI, well, he's the voice in my house," Tony explained. "He helps run the house. J, say hi."

"Hello, young Master Peter," Jarvis said as jovially as an AI could. "It is a distinct pleasure to meet you." Peter's eyes widened when Jarvis spoke, and he turned his head around quickly, looking for the person who was talking. "I'm afraid that you won't actually find me, I have no body." Peter looked at Tony with wide eyes.

"He's cool," Tony told the little boy with a smile. "I made him." That seemed to make little Peter's eyes wider. He was still smiling, watching Peter, then tilted his head a little. Peter's wide eyes were starting to look a little red, the skin getting a little puffier? The toddler then let out a couple coughs. He wrinkled up his little face, and coughed again, turning his face into Tony's shoulder, letting out a little whine. "J?" Tony couldn't help but ask. He was hoping that he was being overly paranoid.

"Sir, I believe that young Master is having a reaction to the peanut butter." Tony's blinked and Rhodey looked up from his pot. "His heart rate is becoming elevated, and I'm detecting swelling around his eyes, and his tongue."

"Daddy?" Peter said in a quiet voice. "Not feel goob." He coughed again, but kept coughing for several seconds after.

Tony froze. Peter was having an allergic reaction, it was looking to be a bad one with the swelling happening. It had happened so quickly. Mary hadn't said he was allergic, but neither had Jarvis. They must not have known. Panic raced through Tony's brain, watching his son have trouble breathing, in his arms. He couldn't take care of a child, he wasn't meant to be a father, he couldn't take care of his own son-

Wait. Allergies. Pepper was allergic to something... Some fruit, right? Pepper had asked Jarvis to keep an emergency supply of Epipens in the house, just in case. Where were they?

"-ny?" Tony turned his head and saw Rhodey in front of him, trying to get his attention, Peter still coughing, now trying to catch his breath.

Tony moved instantly, racing to the couch, putting Peter down on the couch, rubbing his back. "Jarvis, where are Pepper's pens?"

"Colonel Rhodes, if you could please hurry to the front room." Jarvis took over, and Tony would later be forever grateful, when his brain had recovered from shock.

"Get me vitals, Jarvis," Tony demanded, staying close to Peter, not letting him go. He could see tears welling up in his eyes, brown eyes meeting Tony's. "I'm right here, bud, right here, not going anywhere."

"I'm afraid I can't right now, Sir," Jarvis told his creator. "I'm afraid that the calculations for the new scanners have not been completed."

Rhodey hurried back into the room, uncapping something. "Peter," Tony got the little boys attention back from Rhodey. "You're gonna feel a little poke, but you're going to feel better, alright?" Peter tried to nod as he wheezed in a breath. Tony held onto his hands, rubbing his knuckles. "You're doing just great, Daddy's so proud of you." The pen was pressed to Peter's leg, and the little boy winced at the feeling of the needle.

Tony watched him closely, letting out a breath when he stopped coughing, pulling him into his chest, arms around him. His own heart was beating so fast that he was sure it would override the arc reactor, and bring the shrapnel into his his heart from the fear and adrenaline alone. Peter sniffed and Tony felt some of his tears on his neck. His heart broke a little at the sound and the tears.

"Chest hurts," Peter murmured after a moment, voice thick with unshed tears and a bit of fear. Tony rubbed his back, holding him close, willing him to feel better.

"I know, buddy, but that'll stop soon," Tony said quietly. The rest of the house dissolved, and it was just Tony and his son, safe in his arms. Safe this time. He promised he would keep Peter safe, decided that not telling the press, not making him, or Mary, a face to any of his enemies, business or otherwise. But this had happened in his own home. He had been holding onto Peter, and he had frozen, he couldn't do anything. Tony vowed that would never happen again, he would never freeze, never be the reason he couldn't help Peter. If he had too, he would put Peter in a suit of-

Armor. It was time to revisit the armor that had saved his life. He had other lives to save, to protect.

* * *

Tony lay with Peter for a few hours after he went to sleep, wanting to keep the boy close, reassuring himself that he was still alright. He had thrown out the peanut butter snack, and then the peanut butter itself. He almost threw out the knife he had used, but Rhodey had taken that and thrown it in the dishwasher.

When he slipped out of Peter's room, leaving the door open a little, nightlights in the hall and the bedroom, he saw Rhodey there, leaning against the wall. They headed down the hall, towards the living room. "He okay?" Rhodey asked his friend. He had seen him shaken up, probably more shaken than Peter had been.

"Yeah, he'll be good," Tony nodded, grabbing his tablet from the coffee table. "He's a resilient little guy."

"Well, he's your kid," Rhodey stated. "And from what I've heard of his Mom, there's no reason why he shouldn't be tough. It's genetic." Tony nodded a little absentmindedly, opening a new file. "Are you going to get some sleep tonight?"

"I'm going to try," Tony told him, then sat down next to Rhodey.

"Before or after you go down to the workshop?"

"Before," Tony told him, looking up at him. "I don't want to risk sleeping in, and not getting up before Peter." He didn't mention that if he tried to sleep, the nightmares would come, and at least after he woke up, he could decompress downstairs. "You should get some sleep, too. It's late."

"You going to bed?" Tony looked at Rhodey with narrowing eyes.

"What are you? My Den Mother?" Tony was getting up, even as he threw his words at Rhodey.

"Well, since Pepper is gone, I have to be." The Airman smiled and headed upstairs to his own room, Tony following behind not long after.

* * *

 _"Daddy!"_

 _"No!" Tony tried to run, tried to get to him, but he was pulled down to the ground, crashing into the dirt floor of the cave. Peter was being pulled away, he could see the water basin behind him. He had to stop them! "Peter!"_

 _"Daddy! Hurts!" Peter cried for him, little arms reaching out for him. Tony pushed himself back up and tried to run again, until something pulled at his chest, and he gasped. The power cables from the battery snapped, the arc reactor powering down. He looked down and saw the blue glow dying in his chest. When he looked up he saw the amber eyes of his son dying, going dim, before being pushed under the water._

 _"_ Peter! _" Tony cried out, stumbling to the ground, chest burning. He could feel the shrapnel, crawling towards his heart, shredding the arteries, destroying what wasn't breaking as he watched his son die. Watched what he could not stop._

* * *

Tony sat up, gasping for air, chest heaving, eyes wide. He pulled his legs from the tangled sheets and sat over the edge of the bed. Hands gripped the edge of the bed, trying to get rid of the shaking in his limbs. "J?" Tony said quietly, not trusting his voice.

"The time is One Twelve in the morning," Jarvis spoke at the small command. "Colonel Rhodes is still asleep, and Young Master Peter still sleeps soundly. There has been no change, no nightmares, and no further, visible, reactions."

Tony nodded and pushed himself up, grabbing his shoes by the door. He wiped his forehead from the sweat that had gathered from the nightmare before pulling his shoes on and tying them. Peter would probably be up by eight at the latest, and it was going to be Saturday. Tony remembered that Saturdays were pancake days.

Only a few moments later, Tony was going down the stairs to the workshop, punching in his code, and pushing the door open. "Jarvis, you up down here?"

"For you, Sir, always." His Ai's easy reply brought a little smile to his lips.

"Open the new project file, the Mark II," Tony said as he moved to the multiple monitors on his desk.

"Shall I store this on the Stark Industries Central Database?" Jarvis asked, the default place to save most projects.

"Actually," Tony breathed, trusting his gut feeling, "I don't know to trust right now. Till further notice, why don't we just keep everything on my private server?"

"Working on a secret project, are we, Sir?" Tony raised an eyebrow, thinking that the AI sounded a little sassy.

"Don't want this winding up in the wrong hands," Tony murmured, trying to forget his dream, trying to forget the enemies he was gaining, that might possibly hurt his baby boy. "Maybe in mine, it can actually do some good."

He tried to streamline the suit, the first set of armor being much too bulky, and too vulnerable. He was onto something, but he had been very limited working in that cave. Now he had Jarvis to help him imagine it, to help with the specs and the math. (Even though his math was always right.) And on the side, there was a tab constantly open, looking for the best pancake recipe. He had Jarvis immediately purge all the recipes that used any kind of nuts, in any ingredient. He was going to ask Jarvis to get him a list of all the food in the house as well, and be sure to let Pepper know that no nuts, peanuts, or peanut butter were ever to be allowed in the house again.

"Sir, the time is currently Seven am," Jarvis said several hours later, jolting Tony from his reading for a pancake recipe. "I believe that if you are to make breakfast before young Master Peter awakens, you should head up now to prepare."

Tony grunted and nodded, then pushed himself up. He looked at the progress bar as Jarvis was machining the parts for the new boots. It would take several hours anyway, and Mary would pick up Peter by then. Tony thought that he should at least grab a quick shower, change his clothes, and then make breakfast.

And hour and a half later, Tony was staring at his counter, wondering how most of the pancake batter ended up on him, the floor, and the counter, than in the bowl, and the pan to cook. The doorbell sounded and Tony jumped.

"Sir, Ms Mary Parker has arrived," Jarvis said calmly.

"Let her in, for the love of science!" Tony exclaimed, trying to push all the batter from the counter into the bowl.

"Hello?" Tony heard her voice echo from the entry hall. "Tony?"

"In the kitchen!" Tony called out. "Uh, head straight, then hang a left."

"Greeting, Ms Parker," Jarvis greeted as Mary walked into the kitchen, then stopped, looking at Tony, and the mess.

"Jarvis,... Tony what happened?" She put her purse and jacket down on the counter.

"I tried to make pancakes?" He looked a little lost, putting the bowl in the sink. Mary took a breath and nodded, pushing the sleeves of her shirt up.

"Come along, little duckling, I shall teach you how to use a kitchen." Tony's expression deadpanned, grabbing some paper towels as a floor bot started to scrub the mess on the floor. "Pancakes aren't that hard."

"I was searching for the perfect recipe," Tony admitted quietly. "Saturdays are pancakes days."

"Tony, you're so sweet," Mary said with a little smile. "It's a very simple recipe, I don't do anything special. All I do is add some vanilla extract, and some oils from orange peels."

"I have that!" Tony said hurrying into his pantry. He came back out with a little bottle, and an orange.

"How did everything go last night?" Mary asked as she pulled together all the ingredients that Tony already had sitting out. Tony helped her find some more mixing bowls, and Mary washed out ones he had already used.

Tony slowed his movements a little. He hadn't thought of a way to tell her about what happened yesterday. He was still a little shaken just thinking about it. "Uh, well, it went well." Mary looked at him, eyebrow raised. "We haven't even spent that much time together for you to know if I'm full of shit or not."

"We've spent about two years together, Tony," Mary countered. "I think that's plenty of time to get to know you." Tony snorted a little. "Did something happen?"

Tony knew he had to tell her now, before she went full on mother mode. ... Who was he kissing, it was going to happen after he told her, but better it be that way, than letting her mind come up with every horror imaginable.

"We found out that Peter has an allergy to peanut butter," Tony said simply, and watched Mary freeze in her movements. "Jarvis thinks that it's probably a nut and peanut allergy, but I wasn't about to find out..."

"Is he okay?" She turned and got closer to Tony, her voice a little higher, her head swiveling around to look for Peter. Tony put his hands on her forearms, trying to still her.

"He is now," Tony told her. "But you should probably get him to a doctor, to get diagnosed."

"Sir did some quick thinking to remember that Miss Potts keeps extra Epipens around the mansion," Jarvis informed Mary, and Tony almost wanted to facepalm as Mary's eyes widened a little.

"Epipens? You need to use an Epipen?" Her voice hitched a little and Tony held onto her a little tighter.

"He's okay, Mary," Tony said, trying to keep his voice even.

"I should have guessed, though," she pressed, closing her eyes briefly. "I've never given it to him before, I have my own nut allergy. I should have gotten him tested for that when he was-"

"Mary," Tony said sternly, and she turned her head to look at him. "He's going to be Fine. And probably in ten minutes he's going to run down here, see you, and expecting pancakes." She blinked then nodded at him. "You work on the pancakes, and I will go get him."

Mary took a couple of deep breaths, in through her nose, out through her mouth, centering herself. "You're right, of course." She paused. "Wow, I never thought I would be saying that to you."

Tony's expression deadpanned once more. "You have to make pancakes for Rhodey, too. He's here, and he eats a lot!" He called as he headed for the stairs.

Tony stopped at the doorway to Peter's room and looked in. He pushed down the images from his nightmare, and watched the boy sleep. The reassuring rise and fall of his chest was mesmerizing to him right now. Peter was there, in his, _His_ , bedroom, safe, asleep, _Alive_.

Walking inside silently, Tony carefully crept in the bed, and wrapped an around the little boy. "I will always keep you safe," he whispered, gently resting his forehead against Peter's. "No matter what. I will do anything."

* * *

 **November 2006**

Tony rolled his neck before heading up the stairs to the living room where Obie was. That last crash in his workshop set off some forgotten aches from not sleeping, and playing with Peter. It had been nearly three weeks now since the press conference, and Mary was able to sneak into Tony's drive with Peter now, and Tony was able to sneak out to go see Peter at night.

When he couldn't sleep at night, he found himself down in his workshop, working on the the new prototype for the armor. He had the boots figured out, and he was working on a flight stabilizer now.

He heard the piano playing as he came up the stairs, and knew that Obie had been there for a little while. Tony almost froze when he saw one of Peter's stuffed animals underneath the couch, but it was hidden, mostly; nothing was peeking out.

"How'd it go?" He glanced at Obie, then saw the pizza sitting on the table. "It went that bad, huh?"

"Just because I brought pizza back from New York, doesn't mean it went bad," Obie said, still playing the piano. Tony snorted a little, grabbing a piece of pizza, as Obie decided now was the time to get up. "It would have gone better if you were there."

"You told me to low," Tony pointed at him. It counted as laying low by not taking Peter outside, right? "That's what I've been doing. I lay low and you take care of all-"

"Hey, come on," Obie interrupted him. "In public, the press. This was a board of directors meeting."

"This was a board of directors meeting?" Tony feigned shock, looking between Pepper and and Obie.

"The board is claiming you have post-traumatic stress," Obie said carefully, and Tony watched him. "They're filing an injunction."

"A what?" Tony frowned. They were doing what to him?

"They want to lock you out," Obie continued.

"Why?" Tony looked at him, tilting his head. "'Cause the stocks dipped forty points? We knew that was going to happen." They had predicted it right after the press conference.

"Fifty six and a half," Pepper corrected from her spot on the couch.

"It doesn't Matter." Tony turned to look at her, then at Obie, his voice riding in volume. "We own the controlling interest in the company!" He could afford to have the stocks dip, and he could bring it right back up if they had, too.

"Tony, the board has rights, too," Obie tried to argue. "They's making the case, that you and your new direction, isn't in the company's best interest."

Tony's eyes almost widened in disbelief, but he really shouldn't have been surprised. They were used to making weapons, to make their fortunes on others deaths and power. "I'm being responsible!" He looked between the two people again. He was trying to turn his life around, trying to make the world a better place for his son, trying to be a better person for his son. "That's a new direction for me," he paused for a second, "for the company. I mean, me on the company's behalf, being for the way that,..." He could see that they weren't buying it, just looking at him. He sighed and threw the rest of his pizza down, then grabbed the box. "This is great."

"Oh come on, Tony. Tony," Obie got up, following him, calling for him to stop.

"I'll be in the shop," Tony said without turning around.

"Hey, hey!" Tony stopped and turned to see Obie. "Hey, Tony, listen." Obie stepped up to him. "I'm trying to turn this think around, but you gotta give me something. Something to pitch to them." He saw Obie's eyes slide down the arc reactor, and he felt something shiver down his spine. "Let me have the engineers analyze that. You know, draw up some specs-"

Tony started shaking his head, taking a step back. "No. No, absolutely not." No one could touch his arc reactor, except for Peter, and himself. And maybe Pepper and Rhodey, sometimes.

"It'll give me a bone to throw the boys in New York!" Obie continued.

"This one stays with me!" Tony tried not to growl audibly. "That's it, Obie. Forget about it."

"Alright, well," Obie grabbed the pizza box. "This stays with me then." Tony shrugged and let him have it, heading back for the stairs. "You mind if I come there and see what you're doing?"

"Good night, Obie," Tony called, dismissing himself from the conversation, and dismissing Obie. He completely forgot about the stuffed animal, and how it would have been visible if you were heading towards the couch.


	4. Dec 2006 - April 2007

**Summary:** **Tony is no stranger to paternity claims from his female conquests, there's a system in place for them. But when one of the tests actually comes back positive, he makes a rash decision to not tell anyone about it, not even Pepper Potts. All Mary Parker wants is for Tony to spend a little time with their son, and she'll badger Tony Stark into showing up at least twice a month in any way that she can.**

 **And then he goes missing for three months in Afghanistan. Tony has a lot to think about in his life now, how he wants to run his company, how his life is going to change with the arc reactor, and what he's going to do about his son, Peter. Then, the Avengers Initiative pops up, and in waltzes his childhood hero, and enemy, Captain America.**

 **Follows IM1, IM2, Avengers, Cap2. Not canon-compliant, but follows the plots.**

 **A/N: So, this took me a little longer to finish, because I was thinking I could wrap up the first movie in this chapter... It happened, but it took a little longer. But you guys get a Really long chapter in exchange. Obviously, this is no where near the end. I'll be posting some pictures, on my Tumblr, into the crazy planning I went through for this, and how this ended up way beyond my expectations. ( .com) Unbeta'd as usual.**

 **Again, guys, holy frijoles! You guys really love this, and I can't believe it! It's amazing, and I hope to keep it as good as you like it. Thank you to Everyone who Kudos, who Comments, who bookmarks, and just Loves this story!**

 **Marvel owns stuff, not me, except my imagination.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**  
 **Anyway, enjoy more cuteness! Some of the lines were taken from the movie directly, (I'm watching it as I go), and that's all owned by Marvel, not by me.**

* * *

 **December 2006**

"Peter's still into coloring, right?" Tony asked as soon as Mary picked up the phone.

There was a pause on the phone. "Tony?" Her sleepy voice echoed through the workshop. "What time is it?"

"Uhh," Tony looked up from his project and blinked a little.

"It is currently 6:27 in the morning," Jarvis supplied for them.

"Tony, why are you calling me at six in the morning?" Mary pushed her face into her pillow.

"Well, I didn't actually know what time it was," Tony admitted. "But, I had to make sure that I was still right before I started to dive back into a project, because you know how my brain works sometimes-"

"If anyone actually knew how your brain worked, they would probably get commendations from the science community," Mary mumbled to him.

"So, Peter's still into coloring?" Tony asked again, looking at his designs.

"He is," Mary affirmed. "His attention span to things is longer than most toddlers, but he still loves it." She rolled onto her back in her bed now, phone laying on the pillow by her hear, refusing to move from her blankets.

"Awesome," Tony nodded. That's really all I needed to know-"

"Tony," she frowned a little, as her own brain started to catch up with her. "Why do you want to know?"

"For reasons."

"I need to hear those reasons," she prompted. There was a bit of silence, but she could hear things being moved around in the workshop. She knew when Tony was in his workshop when they talked on the phone. "What did I tell you last week, Tony?"

"Mmmm, Peter doesn't like strawberries this week?" Tony guessed, taking a big swig of coffee from his mug. "Is he over that yet, by the way? If he's going to suddenly love them, I want to make sure I have some next time he comes over."

"No, I said don't go overboard with Christmas," Mary deflected his fast paced rambling. "Although, no, he still has not forgiven strawberries."

"Right," Tony nodded. "I remember that now. Hey, what's the plan for Christmas, again?" Tony wouldn't say that he was actually kind of looking forward to Christmas this year, but he would be lying if he didn't say that he was excited to have a reason for it this year. Mostly he wanted to make sure that Peter had a memorable time.

"You said that you were going to work on getting Pepper out to see her family, and you would let me know what that happened," Mary reminded him. "Typically Peter and I go over to my parents on Christmas morning though, and he opens his presents there, and we eat lunch."

Tony hummed, nodded a little. One of the downsides to trying to keep Mary and Peter from the public eye, was that he couldn't actually make their own traditions on holidays. He knew that Mary would never do it on purpose, would never keep him from spending time with Peter on the big days of the year, but he would always have to take the backseat to celebrations. Tony didn't take it personally, it was something he had learned to deal with from a young age, most of his best memories were of holidays spent with his butler Jarvis.

"It's what we've down the past two years," Mary said a little quietly. "It's been a while since they've had someone to spoil for Christmas-"

"And of course they should," Tony said automatically. "He's their grandson, and that is the right of all grandparents." Tony glanced over at the shell of the new armor he was still working on, then back to the current plans in front of him. "And for the record, I haven't bought him anymore presents."

"Good," Mary said, taking the distraction from what was becoming an uncomfortable topic. "Because I don't want him expecting to get so much every year. He still needs to learn that he earns presents for being a good boy, and that if he acts out, or does something that he's not supposed too, that he won't get whatever he wants either way."

"Good thing he doesn't entirely grasp the concept of being obscenely rich, yet," Tony said with a little, self-deprecating, smirk.

"If it were true what you're implying, we wouldn't be having this conversation." Mary had that spark of optimism that Tony envied sometimes. "You would have blown Peter and I off as nothing more than a dirty secret to be kept in the closet, paid off with lots of money."

"If I remember right, that's what I tried to do," Tony reminded her.

"Yeah, but then I pulled a fast one on you, and shoved an infant in your arms-"

"Which was highly ill-advised!"

"-and I saw your face practically melt." He could Mary was smiling now. "Peter found your heart that day." Tony blinked at her words, glancing over to the old arc reactor that Pepper had left for him in his workshop.

'Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart'

"Yeah," he said quietly. He cleared his throat before talking again. "Pepper is gone, by the way. To see her family, not gone gone, just off for the holidays." He knew he was starting to ramble again, but it was an old fall back that he was used to, and it worked for him. "She almost didn't go, wondering how I was going to actually survive without her, and I had to promise that I would call if I needed her, or that I would call Rhodey."

"Are you going to call?" Mary asked. Tony wrinkled his nose a little; Too many people actually wanting him to do the responsible thing when it came to himself. Let him work on one thing at a time, and right now that was being a father, no, a Dad, to Peter, and working on the Mark II armor. Wait... that was two things, wasn't it?"

"Tony?" Tony blinked when he heard Mary's voice again, and remembered that she had asked him a question.

"Right, of course I'll call," Tony nodded, agreeing in much the same manner that he had with Pepper. "But, I won't need too, because I won't be alone. So that's all settled. I'll just be here, so you let me know what's good for you and Peter, cause I know that the FBI probably doesn't give all their Agents holidays off, and that's when we'll do stuff. I have a seriously open schedule, able to accommodate practically anyone." Tony eye briefly glanced over to the mini bar in the back of the workshop, before making himself get up to grab his tools.

"I will let you get another hour or so of sleep, before Peter wakes up, and we'll talk soon," Tony said, feeling his ability to socialize with other humans starting to dwindle.

"Bye, Tony." Mary let out a little sigh when he hung up. She knew that he was going to find a way to hang up either way, and she knew there was no way she was going to go back to sleep. Time to work on the holiday schedule.

Tony took a breath, leaning against the bench. "Two is probably too young to have a fully functional drafting table, huh?"

"Perhaps for his birthday, Sir," Jarvis told him. "Perhaps he will take up painting next."

"Maybe wait and see what subjects he'll be best at during school," Tony thought out loud, heading back over towards the Mark II armor. "Let's continue with the mobility tests today, J."

"Very good, Sir."

* * *

Tony looked at the holographic tree, tilting his head a little. "What about blue and red lights, Jarvis?" The lights around the pine tree shifted to different patterns of red and blue, the silver and gold ornaments reflecting the colors. "I think that looks better." He pushed a few of the presents for Peter closer tot he base, rearranging them, nodding when he was done.

"I'm glad to see that you got the tree finished on the night of Christmas Eve, Sir," Jarvis said and Tony was in the process of rolling his eyes. "I was certain that you would still be working on it until Boxing Day."

"We don't celebrate Boxing Day in this house," Tony pointed up towards the ceiling. "Don't you forget it."

"If I didn't already know your AI, I'd say it was weird that you're talking to your house." Tony whipped around when he heard Mary's voice. He staggered a step back when something slammed into his legs.

"Daddy!" Tony grinned when Peter looked up at him, eyes bright despite how late it actually was for the little boy. Tony picked up Peter and peppered his face with kisses, making the toddler giggle. "Merry Kissmas."

"Merry Kissmas, Petey." Tony grinned at him, then looked at Maria, who was setting down Peter's bag and jacket, and then a bigger canvas bag that looked three times as big as Peter. "I thought you two were going to be at Grandma and Grandpa's tonight."

"Well, seems like Grandma and Grandpa had a Christmas party in the morning, so they were going to be gone all day tomorrow," Mary said, taking off her jacket.

"Granpa is gonna be with his old friends," Peter said matter-of-factly. "We opened presents there already!" Tony could see Peter's eyes lean over to look at the presents on the floor, then he saw the tree. "Cool! Mama! Look at the tree!"

Tony smiled and walked closer to it, holding Peter on his hip so they could both face it, Mary coming over to standing next to them. "Do you like it?" Peter nodded enthusiastically. "Do you remember that new tablet I was working on?" He asked, looking at Peter. "And how it could make all those cool images show, like a movie? Well," Tony reached forward with one hand, the programming recognizing his hand, and he 'picked' up one of the ornaments.

Peter's eyes widened, mouth opening, and passing his own hand through the ornament. "How did you do that?"

"Put your hand out," Tony told the little boy. "Palm up." Peter followed his word, putting the hand that passed through the ornament out and open. Tony moved the ornament over and let it settle in Peter's hand, looking like he was holding it now. Whenever Peter moved his hand, the ornament moved with it. Jarvis had already scanned him into the system, to recognize him for any hologram action, tracking his movements.

"Mama!" Peter grinned, eyes shining, holding his hand out to show Mary. "Look, Mama!"

Mary chuckled and leaned in to kiss Peter's cheek. "Look at that, baby. You're just like Daddy now." Peter squealed and grinned.

Peter rolled the ornament back and forth between his hands, grinning as he watched it. He suddenly looked over at Mary, face very serious. "Mama, will Santa know to come here? He's never been here."

"Of course he will baby," Mary said as she pushed some hair off his face. "He always knows where you are." Peter let out a breath of relief and nodded, and went back to playing with the ornament. "But, you'll need to go to sleep soon, cause you know he won't come if you're still awake." As if on que, Peter yawned, leaning his head against Tony's shoulder. Tony smiled, taking the ornament back and putting it back on the tree.

"But 'm not tired." Peter yawned again, in opposition to his words.

"I think you are, buddy," Tony said, shifting Peter in his arms so he was laying on Tony's chest. Peter nodded a little, closing his eyes, wrapping his arms around Tony's neck, head still pillowed on Tony's shoulder.

"He likes to sleep on people," Mary said, smiling a little at Tony. "And you have the nightlight."

"Jarvis, lights at 70% please," Tony said quietly, the lights dimming in the room. "I thought you two would staying at your parents place." They both headed over to the couch, Tony gently sitting down, careful not to disturb Peter. "And how did you get in here without Jarvis telling me?"

"I asked Jarvis at the door to let us surprise you." Mary smirked a little. "Peter kept asking when we would be coming over here, and if you had someone coming over for Christmas, like Grandma and Grandpa."

"I have the robots, and Jarvis," Tony said, hand rubbing Peter's back. He took a breath, pressing his lips together for a second. "I'm glad you came though," he said quietly.

They sat on the couch, Peter starting to give off little snores, before Mary spoke again. "In the morning, I was going to make apple pancakes."

"I've got some fresh apples in the pantry." Tony nodded towards the direction of the kitchen. "And some cinnamon, too. Should be a good time." Tony tried to hide a yawn, but Mary was staring right at him as he did it. "I'm fine."

"You need to get some sleep, Tony, and you've got a sleeping toddler on you, so it's the perfect excuse to go to bed." Mary tried to get him up from the couch. "It's late, and he's going to wake you up at the time that you will sometimes go to bed." Tony wrinkled his nose a little, letting her push him up to his feet. "It's a natural fact, children and Christmas, and waking up too early."

"Dummy and You can help you with any other presents for Peter," Tony started to say as he headed for the stairs up to the bedrooms. "And Jarvis can give them directions to help as well. Don't give them anything fragile though, it's why I haven't put Butterfingers on present duty."

"Good night, Tony," she smiled at him. Tony looked at her for a second, then nodded, giving a little smile. He continued upstairs, pausing between the doors to his room, and Peter's room.

"I think that perhaps, young Master Peter would prefer sleeping with you tonight, Sir," Jarvis said, sensing his creator's hesitation.

"I don't want to wake him up, though," Tony said, looking towards the door to his room.

"If you put on your bracelet, I can wake you before a nightmare sets in." Tony had created a bracelet tied to Jarvis, one that could sense when his body was entering different states of sleep, and tracked his vitals. In extreme situations, the bracelet could emit a small shock to the wrist, enough to break deep sleep. It allowed Tony to get some sleep, but try to avoid most of the nightmares he still had.

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Tony nodded and went into his room. He put Peter down on the middle of the bed, and quickly changing his clothes. Tony moved the blankets, pulling Peter over to him, running his fingers through Peter's hair a little, Peter's hand instinctively resting on his arc reactor. "Merry Christmas, kiddo," he said softly. "I'm glad you're here." Tony bit back a yawn and closed his eyes.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Tony grunted, opening his eyes. Peter grinned at him, pushing his shoulder. "Wake up! We gotta get Mama! It's Kissmas!" Tony grabbed Peter and started to tickle his sides, making the boy squeal with laughter.

"Is that so?" Tony laughed as he tried to keep the wiggling boy in his lap. "Is it time to wake up now?"

"Yes!" Peter screamed with laughter, trying to get away from Tony's hands. "The sun is up! Present time!"

"Actually, you have to eat first," Mary said from the doorway, smiling at them.

"Mama! Help me, Mama!" He wiggled around, giggling, reaching out for Mary.

"Mmmmm," Mary touched her chin as she hummed. "I don't know, it's looks like Daddy is having fun. I don't know if I should stop it."

"Mama!" Peter squealed and curled up when Tony hit a particularly ticklish spot by his neck. Mary laughed and walked over, going to take his hands. Tony smiled and reached over to pull Mary down on the bed.

Mary laughed and wrapped her arms around Peter. "I've got you my son!"

"You've foiled my plans!" Tony exaggerated his movements, trying to reach around Mary to get to Peter. "I can't tickle him anymore!" Peter was giggling, grinning, face red as he caught his breath. "I guess that means that we have to go eat breakfast. And then, was there something else?"

"Open presents!" Peter exclaimed.

"That's right! Presents!" Tony chuckled and Mary sat up, still holding onto Peter. "I'll meet you in the kitchen, don't eat all the food before I get there." Mary nodded and the two of them disappeared from the room. Tony looked out one of the windows as Jarvis had raised the holographic blinds completely. He didn't remember waking up in the middle of the night, and he wondered if Jarvis had to use the bracelet. When he ran his hand around his wrist, it was empty. The bracelet was still sitting on the bedside table.

"Daddy!" He heard Peter call from downstairs. Tony blinked, then headed downstairs to the kitchen. First night of real sleep without nightmares, he wasn't going to question it. He half jogged down the stairs and saw Peter staring over towards the tree, which had gotten bigger over night, to accommodate the new presents. Tony had some other presents that had been labeled "From Santa", as did Mary it seemed.

"Santa did come! He knew where I was!" Peter jumped around and ran over to the presents, but not touching them. He let out a little squeak, and looked back over at Tony and Mary. "Mama! Daddy! Santa brought you presents too!" Tony blinked and looked over at Mary, who was looking at him with the same surprised look. They had both gotten each other presents, and neither had been expecting it. Maybe this Christmas wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

 **March 2007**

Tony had taken his sweet time getting everything right with the suit, the Mark II. And then because there were so many pieces he had to design a custom machine to assemble it. Much like what they had put together in that cave in Afghanistan, this one would work with his robots, work with something that he knew, and could calculate.

The suit assembled, hugging his body like a glove, not too tight, not too uncomfortable, as much as wearing a suit of metal armor could be. He reached over, grabbing the faceplate for the helmet, getting used to how the gauntlet grabbed stuff, and locked it into place.

"Jarvis?" Tony asked, hearing everything power up. "Are you there?"

"At your service, Sir." Jarvis' welcome voice filled the headset, not too loud.

"Engage Heads Up Display," Tony said, watching the blue lights appear in his vision, the camera coming online to give him a full view of the garage, instead of only what he could see through the eye holes. "Import all preferences from home interface." Jarvis confirmed as Tony looked around, taking his first few steps on the ground. "Alright, what do you say?"

"I have indeed been uploaded, Sir," Jarvis told him, the AI running through the suit now, making it easier for Tony to navigate with its weight. "We're online and ready."

"Do a check on control surfaces," Tony said as he looked around, an idea starting in his head.

All the pieces of the suit started to move, making sure that nothing scraped, everything locked together, worked how it needed to be. "Test complete. Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics." The screen started to minimize itself, and Tony knew that soon the armor station would reappear. Nope.

"Yeah, tell you what," Tony interrupted that. "Do a weather and ATC check." He looked towards the exit of the garage. "Start listening in on ground control."

"Sir, there are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is-" Jarvis tried to talk some sense into his creator.

"Jarvis," Tony said, a little smirk on his face. "Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk." He felt the power running to the boots, the flight stabilizers coming online, using the interface to start the maiden flight of Mark II. With less explosions this time. "Ready? In three, two, one!" He jumped up, letting the repulsors take over, speeding him out. He winced when he scraped against the side of the garage tunnel, but couldn't help but whoop as he hit open air.

Tony could feel the grin on his face, threatening to split as he spun, moving up and down, going higher to his own whim. He was flying! "Handles like a dream!" He grinned. He led the suit over the water, and saw the lights of a carnival nearby. "Jarvis, did Mary say what carnival her parents were taking Peter to, tonight?" He asked suddenly.

The display took over, starting to recognize people, read faces, until it zoomed in on one familiar face on the ferris wheel, two people sitting next to him. Tony grinned and moved a bit faster, doing a fly-by, watching as Peter saw him, and saw his eyes light up. He couldn't hear what he was saying, but he tugged on Mary's jacket and pointed up int he sky, at him, grinning. Mary blinked and looked over, and Tony was already flying away, back over the water, and heading up into the sky.

"What's SR-71's record?" If Tony was going to test this out, and eventually brag about it, he wanted all the numbers.

"The altitude record for fixed wing flight is eighty-five thousand feet, sir," Jarvis told him, showing him the information on the screen as well.

"Records are made to be broken," Tony grinned,, putting all the thrust into the boots. He watched the altimeter on the screen, and just kept going straight up. "Come on!" He would make it, make it to ninety thousand or more.

"Sir," Jarvis spoke up. "There is a potentially fatal buildup of ice occurring." Jarvis threw up the warnings, letting him know.

"Keep going!" Tony pushed. He was so close, he could handle a little ice. Jarvis kept the warnings up, but Tony kept the power going to the boots and gauntlets. "Higher!" Maybe he should have paid a little more attention to just how much ice was building up. He thought this briefly when the power shorted out on the HUD, and suddenly power sputtered from the boots, and then the gauntlets. He fluttered in the air, swinging his limbs around before he started to fall.

"We iced up, Jarvis!" He shouted, waiting to see the blue light up again in his eyes. "Deploy flaps!" He waited another half a second. "Jarvis!" He was falling, and falling fast, a weighted down hunk of metal in the air. "Come, we gotta break the ice!" He wasn't sure if he was talking to himself, or to the unresponsive Jarvis, but it was something that needed to happen. He reached one hand down, dragging his finger across the leg of the suit, waiting for his fingers to fall into the divot of the manual release.

He let out a breath of relief and pulled and twisted, hearing the flaps break up, hearing the ice chunks crackle off. Putting his arms and legs out, he tried to slow his fall as much as possible, waiting for Jarvis to recognize that it was now safe to reboot. He watched the ground from the eye holes, wondering if he should make them bigger, until the screen burst to life, the icons loading and minimizing, and finally, Finally, Jarvis was powered up again and he had control.

He was much to close to the street for comfort, but he shot across, gaining enough momentum, and shot back up, letting out a shout of laughter, tinged with relief, and adrenaline. Time to head back home, he thought. The adrenaline would wear off soon, and he wanted to be home before that happened.

Hovering over the roof of his home, close to the roof access, he stayed. "Kill power," he commanded to Jarvis. What he was not expecting was to fall through the roof, through the baby grand piano, through the roof, and land right on top of one of his collector cars. Dummy released the fire extinguisher, and Tony let his head fall back.

Once Tony managed to tape an ice pack to his shoulder, near his neck, he grabbed something to drink, and wondered over to his computer. Jarvis already had the specs up on the suit, and the flight. Obviously the icing problem would have to be dealt with first. It wasn't until the TV caught his attention, that he looked away from the rendering Jarvis was coming up with.

"-Tony Stark's third annual benefit for the Firefighters Family Fund has become the place to be for LA's high society." Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Jarvis, we get an invite for that?" Tony didn't actually remember this event happening.

"I have no record of an invitation, Sir."

"-hasn't been seen in public since his bizarre and highly controversial conference," the reporter said, and Tony was already having ideas. "Some claim he's suffering from post-traumatic stress, and has been bedridden for weeks. Whatever the case may be, no one expects an appearance from him tonight."

"The render is complete, Sir," Jarvis announced, pulling Tony's attention away from the TV. Tony looked over and saw the Mark II, soon to be Mark III, in all gold. He wrinkled his nose a little, taking a drink from his glass.

"A little ostentatious, don't you think?" All gold? Really? The all silver had been pushing it, but it was just the testing model.

"What was I thinking?" Tony raised an eyebrow, detecting humorous amounts of sass from his AI. "You're usually so discreet."

Tony's eyes wandered over to the hot rod that he worked on little by little, the one he had been working on before his flight to Afghanistan. "Tell you what, throw a little hot-rod red in there." He finished his glass, pushing back away from the computer desk as Jarvis made the changes.

"Yes, that should help you keep a low profile." Tony almost laughed. "Render is complete."

Tony got up, taking the ice pack off, slipping his watch back on. "Hey, I like it. Fabricate it, paint it. Don't wait up for me." Tony walked off, heading for his bedroom to get changed.

* * *

Tony mildly enjoyed the little bit of attention he got when he pulled up to his own event, mainly because he liked proving people wrong about him. He gave a brief greeting to Obie, and moved on, mostly so he wouldn't have to actually talk to any reporters. He could play up the bad boy role for a little longer. The people he cared about knew what he was really like now.

Inside, he ordered a scotch, needing one badly now with all the cameras around him, turning when he heard his name being called by his ear. "Mr Stark?"

Tony turned his head a little. "Yeah?"

"Agent Coulson," the man pulled out his badge, flashing it real quick.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah," Tony nodded a little. He thought he remembered Pepper saying something about this guy. "The guy from the..."

"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Department," the man supplied.

"God, you need a new name for that," he muttered, looking over into the crowd again. He saw a woman with her hair up, a long blue dress with an amazing back plunge, and a glass of champagne in her hand, and he thought she looked familiar.

"Yeah, I hear that a lot." The Agent was still talking, right he was still there. "Listen, I know this must be a trying time for you, but we need to debrief you." Coulson kept going. "There's still a lot of unanswered questions, and time can be a factor with these things."

"Let's just put something in the books," Tony said, nodding, still staring at the woman.

"How about the 24th, at 7pm?" Coulson suggested. "At Stark Industries?"

"Make it April, and we're good." The woman turned around and Tony's eyes widened a little when he recognized her. It was Mary. She looked over towards them, then blinked when she saw Tony. "I'm going to go find my assistant, and put it, in the books. Yeah." He finished his scotch then headed over towards Mary.

"Tony," Mary nodded to him a little, smiling.

"You look fantastic," he greeted. "I didn't recognize you."

"Well, that would probably be the point of this fancy dress," She told him, finishing her champagne. As she put the glass on the tray of a passing waiter, Tony took her hands, leading her to the dance floor. "I didn't know you were going to be here."

"I could say the same," Tony countered.

"Well, you were talking to my new boss, so I came here with government clearance." Tony raised an eyebrow at her answer. "I didn't tell you, I got a new job."

"You did in fact not tell me," he said, pinching her arm a little bit. "You now work for the agency with too many names?"

"Yeah, there's actually a group put together for coming up with a better name," she admitted. "Tony, why are dancing?"

"Because you surprised me by being here, and I don't actually want to talk to your boss," Tony told her.

"You aren't afraid that someone might get a picture of this?" Mary raised an eyebrow.

"We're just dancing," Tony countered.

"It's not just a dance, though," Mary said, not unkindly. "You're you, Tony, everybody knows who you are, and how you are with women."

"You most of all," Tony smirked and Mary let out a little snort of laughter. "Are you worried about what others will think?"

"I'm not, but I thought you wanted to try and keep Peter and I out of the press?" Mary asked, knowing that Coulson was watching as they danced.

"He's not here right now, and there are no cameras inside the hall," Tony reassured her, and himself. "They don't let the press, with their cameras, inside the hall."

"Nice save," Mary pushed his shoulder a little, moving him off the dance floor as the song ended. "Because we both know there are some paper journalists wandering around here."

Tony hummed a little. "Want a drink? I need a drink."

"I'm technically on the job, but I'll take a water," Mary chuckled a little, letting Tony move towards the bar faster. Tony barely noticed Coulson intercept Mary as he went up to the bar, placing a drink order. He didn't even notice the blonde come up on the other side.

"Wow, Tony Stark." Tony almost jumped at the voice and he tilted his head to see the familiar woman standing there. He remembered her, briefly. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Carrie," Tony guessed.

"Christine," she corrected, not surprised that he didn't remember her name.

"That's right," he nodded, reaching for the drink that the bartender handed him.

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here tonight." Tony raised an eyebrow. "Can I at least get a reaction from you?"

Tony briefly wondered about which part. "Panic. I would say panic is my reaction."

"'Cause I was referring to your company's involvement in the this latest atrocity," she continued, going on a righteous anger now.

"Yeah," Tony turned to face her a little more, and he could feel Mary coming up behind him, taking her water. "They just put my name on the invitation. I don't know what to tell you."

"I actually almost bought it, hook, line, and sinker," she continued, and now Mary was leaning out to get a look at this woman.

"I was out of town for a couple of months before, in case you didn't hear." Tony was getting annoyed now.

"Is this what you call accountability?" She pulled out some pictures from her purse and Tony frowned. He took them, looking through them, Mary looking over at them. "It's a town called Gulmira. Heard of it?"

"When were these taken?" He felt his ire rising. His weapons, the weapons that he had halted production of.

"Yesterday."

"I didn't approve any shipment," Tony looked back up at her.

"Well, you're company did," the blonde shot back at him.

"Well, I'm not my company." His brain stopped for just a second. He knew who Was the company at this moment. He gripped the pictures, leaving the drink, and headed outside, the two women following behind him.

Tony found Obie, pulling him away and up the steps, Obie pushing the other cameras away a little. "Have you seen these pictures?" He flashed the pictures to him, clearly showing the Jericho missiles. "What's going on in Gulmira?"

"Tony, Tony," Obie tried to soothe him like an upset child. "You can't afford to be this naive."

Tony frowned. "You know what? I was naive before, when they said, 'Here's the line, we don't cross it. This is how we do business.'" Tony looked at him, really not wanting to believe what was happening. "If we're double-dealing under the table..." He paused, looking for any reaction from the man that was like his father. "Are we?"

The cameras, the reporters, they were all clambering for a picture, wanting the two heads of Stark Industries. "Let's take a picture," Obie said after a moment of silence. "Picture time!" His tone was like that of talking to a small child, talking to Peter. As if he would ever let the man talk to him.

Obie put his arm around Tony's shoulders, leaning in so only they could hear. "Tony, who do you think locked you out? I was the one who filed the injunction again you." Tony thought that his face had gone pale, the blood rushing from his face at the words. "It was the only way I could protect you."

Obidiah clapped his shoulder before moving down the stairs, his bodyguards following. He was done for the night. He left Tony standing on the stairs, staring after him. Christine walked away after a moment, and he could vaguely hear Mary telling him to move, before heading back into the event as well. Tony had a lot of thinking to do.

* * *

Tony didn't bother going to sleep when he got home, going straight down to his workshop. He immediately found any report about Gulmira, needed to see what was happening. That was Yinsen's home, and it was his name that was destroying it. When he saw the face of the man that had held him captive, still alive, he checked out, turning the Mark III gauntlet into a weapon.

"Sir," Jarvis spoke after a moment, into the silence of the shattered glass of his workshop. "Ms Parker is on the line."

"Deflect, Jarvis," Tony said. "I-"

"Tony," Mary's voice sounded through the workshop. The traitor AI.

"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping," Tony said, taking the gauntlet off, placing it down on the table. One of the robots would grab it, putting it back with the rest of the suit.

"It's almost nine in the morning, Tony," she told him. The engineer blinked a little, unaware that that much time had actually passed. "After last night-"

"Too which part are you referring," Tony interrupted her. "The part where you were there, working for the government agency trying to get my attention? Or the part where my own partner is still selling weapons, to the enemy? Or the part where I was made to look the fool of the company that has My name on it?! Please, enlighten me, Mary!"

Mary didn't say anything for a moment. "I'm looking into it, Tony," she said gently. "But, I need you to let me do this without your intervention." Tony was about to shout at her, but she kept going. "So, I'm going to drop Peter off to you, today." Tony stopped, blinking.

"I don't think that's a wise idea," Tony grumbled. "This probably isn't the best time-"

"Then consider this one of the important lessons of being a parent," Mary replied instantly. She wasn't going to coddle his emotions right now. "If you're having a bad day, if you don't fell like doing, life, you don't get to take a day off." Tony wasn't aware until he was already doing it, but he was sitting down as Mary gave him what for. "You don't get to go to your child, and say "I'm sorry, but today I just can't handle being an adult right, please understand that I'm going to put something else ahead of you."

"I wouldn't-"

"Your damn right," Mary snapped at him. "Now, I'm telling you that I'm dropping Peter off with you today, because I think that this will be good in two ways." She took a breath, composing herself again. "It will let me get done what needs to get done, to help You. And you will calm down enough to think about your response needs to be, rationally."

"I don't want to be rational about it," Tony grumped, slouching back a little on the couch.

"I know, but it's called being an adult. Now, go take a shower, and get dressed in clean clothes," Mary told him. "I'll be there with Peter in forty-five minutes.

While Tony was in the shower, he wondered what he could do with Peter. It gave him the time he needed to calm down, enough so that hopefully Peter wouldn't be able to see that something was wrong. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Peter in any way, in case he was still angry.

It wasn't until Mary showed up that Tony knew what he was going to do. She was carrying in a still tired looking Peter, his backpack in her hand, diaper bag over her shoulder. Tony saw the Captain America shield on the back of Peter's jacket and was hit with an epiphany.

"Hey, Petey," Tony said, going over to take him from his mothers arms.

The toddler wrapped his arms around Tony's neck. "Hi, Daddy."

"He's still tired from the carnival last night," Mary said as she put his stuff on the couch. "But, he knows he has to stay awake until after lunch, right, baby boy?" Peter nodded, giving her a tired smile. Mary leaned in, kissing Peter's cheeks. "Mama has to go to work now."

"Tell mom not to worry, we won't get into much trouble." He smiled when Mary gave him a warning look. "Go on, don't be late to work now." She hummed a little and went off with a wave.

"I've got something special to show you, little man," Tony said, adjusting Peter in his arms. The boy was growing quickly, and soon he wouldn't be able to hold him like this for long, but Tony would keep doing it as long as he could. "Only one other person knows about this, and that's Rhodey. You remember, Rhodey right?" Peter nodded, sitting up a little in Tony's arms.

"He's the fly guy," Peter giggled.

"That's right," Tony chuckled, heading down the hall, towards where his own, seldom used, study was. "I used to go to school with Rhodey, so we've known each other a long time. He was around when I made this room that I'm going to show you. So only Rhodey, and now you, will know about this."

"Cause I'm special," Peter preened a little, a look of mischief on his face. That look was pure Stark.

"That's right," Tony smiled. he reached a door at the end of the hallway, a little panel slid out from the wall, lighting up. Tony put his hand on the panel, the panel scanning his hand, and there the sound of a lock unlatching. The door clicked and started to slide open.

"This is a collection that I started when I was just a kid, just a little older than you." Peter blinked, adjusting his eyes to the lower level lights that were turning on. He looked around and took in his surroundings, before letting out a little gasp.

"It's all Cap'n America!" He exclaimed, starting to wiggle in Tony's arms.

Tony put him down, but took his hand, walking over to the different displays. "Yeah, it is. I was a big fan when I was a kid, and I collected everything." Peter got as close as he could to the glass, seeing a large collection of comic books. "Did you know that my Dad actually knew Captain America?"

Peter's eyes got big and he turned to look at Tony. "Really?" He whispered. "He knew the real Captain America?"

Tony nodded. "He was friends with him." Tony channeled his childhood, when he was still young enough to be happy when he thought of Captain America, before he realized that Howard gave more attention to a dead man than to his own son that was there in front of him. "I wanted to be just like Captain America when I was younger." Peter reached up to Tony to be held again, and he obliged, moving on to show him the other displays. There were magazines, and his old posters, costumes that he tried to make with the maids and nannies. "He was brave, and had no fear, and did what was right, to make people safe."

And suddenly, Tony knew what he had to do.

* * *

Tony glanced at the map as the in suit phone began to ring; Rhodey. He was pretty much expecting this call. "Hello?" He knew it was Rhodey, but flying this high and this fast, it was still a little hard to hear. "Sorry, hello? Speak up please."

"What the hell is that noise?" Rhodey asked, Jarvis boosting the volume.

"Oh yeah, I'm driving with the top down." Kind of a half truth.

"Yeah, well, I need your help right now." Tony noted that Rhodey was sounding a bit serious.

"It's funny how that works?" Tony couldn't keep the little bit of snark out of his voice.

"Yeah. Speaking of funny, we've got a weapons depot that was just blown up a few clicks from where you were being held captive," Rhodey said. So they did see his handy work then.

"Well, that's a hot spot." If Tony could have shrugged int he suit, he would have. "Sounds like someone stepped in and did you job for you, huh?"

"Why do you sound out of breath, Tony?" Was Rhodey accusing him of something? Something that he completely did do, but still.

"I'm not, I was just jogging in the canyon." His excuses were getting bad.

"I thought you were driving."

"Right, I was driving to the canyon, where I'm going to jog." What?

"You sure you don't have any tech in that area I should know about?" He could tell Rhodey the truth.

"Nope!"

There was some chatter in the background. "Okay, good, cause I'm staring at one right now, and it's about to be blown to kingdom come."

Two planes behind him. "That's my exit." He cut the line and took a turn. Time to lose them, avoid the attention for everyone's sake. He forgot that sometimes the military had the right training, and it was getting harder to evade what they were throwing at him. When he deployed flaps he quickly up underneath one of the planes and latched on, trying to get his breath back. Maybe it was time to call Rhodey, before Rhodey had to call Mary and Peter.

"Hello?" Oh, Poohbear did not sound happy.

"Hi, Rhodey, it's me." Time to tell him the straight facts.

"I'm sorry, it's who?" He hated when Rhodey got sassy.

"I'm sorry, it is me." He took another breath. "You asked. What you were asking about is me."

"No, see this isn't a game." Oh yeah, he Was at work. That was the Colonel voice coming out. "You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone. You understand that?"

"This is not a piece of equipment. I'm in it. It's a suit," he blurted out quickly. "It's me!" Stunned silence is what he would have wanted earlier. Then the plane started to roll, and he was quickly losing his grip. One more high speed roll and they shook him loose. His sensors inside the suit spun, and he grunted when he suddenly hit something.

The stupid plane! He regained control of his thrusters and started going again once he saw the pilot eject. ... But he didn't see a chute. He turned, making a downward arc, Jarvis scanning the chute functions to see how it jammed. He could get it open.

"You've been reengaged," Jarvis toned through the helmet. "Execute evasive maneuver."

"Keep going!" He kept his downward movement. His suit would most likely survive, the pilot would not once he hit the ground. He slammed his hand against the chute pack, let out a burst from the repulsor, sparking the mechanism and watched the chute explode and catch air. He let up on the thrust, then turned and headed back towards home, watching the other plane follow it's fellow pilot, knowing he had dropped off radar enough to disappear close to the rocky side of the landscape.

"Tony, you still there?" He couldn't help but let out a little smile at Rhodey's voice.

"Hey, thanks."

"Oh my god, you crazy son of a bitch." Tony had to laugh at that one now. "You owe me a new plane, you know that right?"

"Yeah, well, technically he hit me." Tony took in a breath, letting Jarvis take control of the directions for a few seconds. "Now, are you going to come by and see what I'm working on? Peter misses you, too." Guilt trip, that's what good parents did, right?

"No, no, no, no, no, no, the less I know, the better." Even Rhodey sounded a bit out of breath. "Now, what am i supposed to tell the press?"

"Training exercise. Isn't that the usual BS?" He'd heard that a million times.

* * *

 **April 2007**

Tony was wrapping a few things on his computer when he heard Pepper's heels coming down the stairs. He had to go and get Peter from Mary's parents soon, and he really did not want to be late. Mary said that she had a late appointment and Peter wanted to spend the night again, and how could Tony say no when his son wanted to spend time with him.

"Hey, you busy? You mind if I send you on an errand?" Things had been a little awkward since she had caught him trying to get the damaged Mark III suit off. "I need you to go to my office." He grabbed something from his desk, having just completed the programming on it. "You're going to hack into the mainframe and you're going to retrieve all the recent shipping manifests. This is a lock chip," he said as he put the thumb drive in her hand. "This'll get you in. It's probably under Executive Files. If not," he started to shut down his computer again, "they put it on a ghost drive, in which case you need to look for the lowest numeric heading."

Pepper looked at him. "And what do you plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?" He hated that tone.

"Same drill," he said easily. "They've been dealing under the table, and I'm going to stop them." He stood up. "I'm going to find my weapons, and destroy them."

"Tony," she paused, gathering her bearings, and Tony didn't like that. "You know that I would help you with anything, but I cannot help you if you're going to start all of this again."

"There is nothing except this," he looked at her. If he didn't, if he didn't try to stop this, to change his name, his legacy, Peter's legacy. "There's no art opening. There is no benefit, there is nothing to sign."

"Is that so?" Pepper waited for an answer, but he really didn't have one that she wanted to hear. "Well, then I quit."

"You stood by my side for all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction." He felt his throat closing a little, but he kept his tone strong. "And now that I'm trying to protect the people that I put in harm's way, you're going to walk out?"

"You're going to kill yourself Tony." She looked at him. The strong woman that she was, the only one that had been able to keep up with him. The only one he had for a long time. "I'm not going to be a part of it."

Tony let out a little sigh. "I should be alive." He couldn't look at her. "Unless it was for a reason." As much as he loved his son, Peter was not enough of a reason for the Universe to keep him alive. "I'm not crazy, Pepper," he said softly. "I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it's right."

Pepper eventually walked back over, took the device, and nodded. "Don't come right back here, just in case. Wait an hour or so." Peter would be asleep by the time that Pepper came back with the drive. She nodded one last time and left the workshop. He knew he was asking a lot of her, but he also knew that she could do it.

Tony took a breath, and pushed himself away from the desk. He grabbed his jacket, and the keys to the town car. He really did not want to get another look from Mary's mother if he was late again.

* * *

Mary checked the text from Tony, a picture of him and Peter in the car, having picked him up from her parents place, then tucked her phone into her jacket pocket. She had to idly wonder if Coulson knew that Peter was Tony's son, or if he just had her come with him to Stark Industries because of what happened at the Benefit back in March.

"Ms Potts?" She looked up when Coulson spoke, Pepper Potts coming the stairs, in a bit of a hurry it looked like. The last time she had seen the red-head was when Peter had been only a month old. "Did you forget about out appointment?"

"Nope, right now, come with me." Both Mary and Coulson stood up quickly at her words, especially when she didn't stop walking. Pepper glanced at Mary, but looked back at Coulson, then glanced behind her. Mary looked behind them as well. She got a shiver down her back when she saw Obidiah Stane standing there, watching them leave. Something didn't feel right. "We're going to have it right now."

"Right now?" Coulson was a little confused, and he didn't handle that very well yet.

"Yeah, walk with me. I'm going to give you the meeting of you life." Pepper headed them for the door to the parking garage. "Your office."

Mary was surprised that Pepper waited until they were in the car to speak to her. "I've met you before," Pepper said as she slid into the backseat of the car, Mary into the passenger seat. Coulson glanced at Mary, but it was a little knowing glance, and that told Mary everything she needed to know.

"I had a meeting with Mr Stark a couple years ago," Mary said plainly.

The infamous Pepper Potts had one of the best memories in the business. "You came with the baby, claiming that Tony was the father." Mary just nodded once, and Pepper narrowed her eyes a little. "Was it all some sort of set-up to try and get Tony under government surveillance?"

"No one can keep Tony under constant surveillance," Mary commented. Pepper noted her casual use of Tony's first name, and it seemed that she was starting to put things together. "Today has no connection to what happened almost three years ago." Mary just wanted all of this to be over. There was a tangled knot in her stomach that she just couldn't shake, and she didn't like it.

* * *

The phone started to ring and Tony kissed the top of Peter's head as he helped put the last dish in the dishwasher. "Stay right here, buddy," Tony said. "I'm just gonna grab the phone, then we can have some ice cream." He smiled at Peter's little cheer and half jogged out to the living room to find the phone. He glanced around, wondering why Jarvis hadn't announced who was calling, and why it was going to the handset anyway.

He tracked the sound to the couch, and picked up a couple pillows until he found the phone. He plopped down on the couch and looked at the caller ID. Now it was really weird, if Pepper was calling Jarvis should have automatically put it through, he knew that Tony had been waiting for this call. "He pressed the button, opened his mouth to answer-

Everything in his body locked up, every nerve going numb, a high pitched sonic noise traveling through his ears and shutting down his body. His eyes widened when his body started to slump, falling without being able to control his own movements- No, there was someone behind him, there was a hand on the back of his neck, slowly bring him back to rest against the back of the couch.

"Breathe." That voice, he knew that voice. His body tried to desperately pull air into his lungs, the one word triggering an unconscious bodily action. "Easy, easy." There was a soft thump, something being put on the couch beside him, and then there was a little device entering into his eye sight. "You remember this one right?" Stane. "It's a shame the government didn't approve it. There's so many applications for causing shot-term paralysis."

Obidiah walked around the couch, grabbed Tony's jaw and moved his head to look up at him. When he let go, Tony's head drooped a little to the side and Tony thought that his body was going to seize up again. He saw Peter's hair on the couch next to him.

"Tony." Tony's eyes moved to look back at the man, the traitor, trying to pour every ounce of hatred into his gaze. "When I ordered the hit on you, I was worried that I was killing the golden goose." Obidiah reached over, towards where Peter was, his Peter, but pulled something out of a small case. Obie, Obidiah, his partner, the man who had helped raised him, was the reason that he had been kidnapped in Afghanistan? He had tried to have him killed? He should have figured it out sooner, he shouldn't have brought Peter here. What about Mary?

Stane put something heavy over the top of his reactor. "But, you see," Tony felt the device start to heat up, gears working on something, "it was just fate that you survived that." Tony gasped at the slight pop, the feeling of the arc reactor being shifted until something had grabbed onto the edges. No, not the arc reactor. He couldn't save Peter if Stane took that from him. Stane twisted the device gently, and slowly pulled out the arc reactor from his chest. "You had one last golden egg to give."

Tony could have killed him there, if he could move, as Stane leaned over him, like he still had any right to be this close to Tony. "Do you really think that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you?" Tony wanted to lash out, to throw his body at Stane, to get him as far away from his son as possible. He had made a promise to Peter, to protect him from everything. "Your father, he helped give us the atomic bomb. now what kind of world would it be today if he was as selfish as you?"

Stane gave one finally pull, and Tony thought his heart had just stopped. It might as well have as Obidiah disconnected the arc reactor from his body. His body filled with ice, movement slowly starting to come back, but not enough to stop Stane. He watched the man he had once looked up to, look at his arc reactor, like it was his own invention.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Stane breathed. "Tony, this is your Ninth Symphony. What a masterpiece, look at that." Stane dropped down onto the couch, between him and Peter. "A new generation of weapons with this at its heart. This is your legacy." Stane smirked a little, then reached over, pulling Peter up by his arm and into his lap. He could see that Peter was unconscious, a little trail of blood that had come from his ear, but he was still breathing, still alive. "Or, is this your legacy? This brat, that you've tried to hide, all too well, from everyone, from me. Well, he certainly looks like you, I'll give you that."

Stane turned a little, putting the arc reactor into the small case he had, locking it up. "I wish you could have seen my prototype." He watched Stane grab Peter, throwing him over his shoulder, to hang like some discard piece of clothing. "It's not as," he paused, searching for the words. "Well, not as conservative as yours." He turned to look at Tony. "Too bad you had to involve Pepper in this, I would have preferred that she lived. But, out of one last consolation, if you do what I want, this time, and just die, I'll be sure to drop the brat off with his Mother. He never saw my face, he still has a chance."

Tony heaved in a breath, trying to force his body to move as Stane started to leave the living room. He had had to stop him! He had Peter! The front door opened, then closed again, as Tony threw himself onto the floor, panting for breath.

Peter.

* * *

Mary moved almost as quickly as Pepper did from the offices to the cars. She was on the phone with someone, maybe Tony, she wasn't sure, she wasn't listening, but all Mary could think about was the information that they had gotten from Pepper. Tony had almost been killed, and he was still in danger. Stane had built some sort of suit, from what Tony had built in the desert, and they had to get to him.

"-don't know. He's not answering his phone." Mary looked over at Pepper as they got into the cars. "Please go over there and make sure everything's okay." Peter was with Tony. "Thank you, Rhodey." Rhodey, the Colonel, she could trust him to keep them safe. Now she didn't have to commandeer the car form Coulson.

* * *

Tony stumbled out of the elevator, nearly hitting the floor, until he opened the door to his workshop. There, there was the other arc reactor. He gasped, body feeling cold, slowly dying, shrapnel tearing it's way closer to his heart with every exaggerated beat. Why did the workshop suddenly feel so big?! He had to get to the suit, he had to get Peter back!

Tony focused, focused on the thought of Peter and pulled himself across the floor of the workshop. The floor was filthy, he really should clean up. Focus, Tony, arc reactor! He was almost there, it was there, on top of the counter top, all he had to do was grip it, with, his, fingers-

He gasped as he fell to the ground, strength fading, giving up. He couldn't do it, he couldn't even gather the strength needed to go and save his son. He-

The whir of Dummy's arm brought his attention, the arc reactor there, in his grasp. Dummy sounded so hopeful. Tony was going to upgrade the shit of this stupid little robot after this. "Good boy." He used the momentum of his arm and smashed the glass of the casing, freeing the arc reactor. He'd have to make do with this model until he could get the other one back from Stane, or make another one. But first he had to get Peter.

He forgot how hard it was with his own hands to get the reactor plugged in, and it didn't help that his hands were still shaking as the effects of the paralysis wore off, and his own weakness from the shrapnel combined together. He almost cried with relief, slumping over, at the sound of the click, as the reactor connected in his chest. Now he just had to catch his breath.

"Tony!" There was more yelling in the house. Rhodey? "Tony!" He was being rolled over, Rhodey, he was there. "You okay?"

"Where's Pepper?" Whenever Pepper was, that's where Stane would be going. He could save them both.

"She's fine, she's with five agents." Five agents? "They're about to arrest Obidiah." Oh no, Coulson, and-

"Mary." Tony heaved himself up, Rhodey helping him. "Obidiah's got Peter, Rhodey, he has him." Rhodey's eyes widened and he let Tony guide him over to the assembly station. "I've got to get over there." The floor started to move and Rhodey took a step back, the suit starting to assemble around him.

"That's the coolest thing I've ever seen," Rhodey breathed, and Tony felt a little satisfaction from it. Tony felt he strength of the suit helping him as he recovered a little, and used the repulsor to move the car from the hole still in his ceiling. "You need me to do anything else?"

The faceplate dropped in place and lit up, the HUD coming to life. "Keep the skies clear."

* * *

Mary and Coulson were the first agents inside the room after blowing the lock, Pepper behind them. Everyone drew their weapons, her senses on high alert. They saw a suit there, off to the side.

"Looks like you were right," Coulson said. "He was building a suit."

Mary tilted her head when she heard a sound, like something bumping around a vent. She moved quietly to the side, following the sound, the other agents fanning around the room. She followed the sound over to the computer station, leaning down. It's where the sound stopped. Until she heard, something like, a whimper?

Mary pulled back on the door that gave access to the wiring and gasped when she saw Peter huddled in a ball. "Peter," she breathed, putting her weapon back in the holster quickly, and grabbing onto her son.

"Mama!" He cried out at the same time that Pepper screamed. Mary turned, holding tightly to Peter, and stood, seeing the giant suit chasing after Pepper.

"This way!" She shouted to Pepper as she started to run for the door. Mary had to get Peter out of there, but it seemed that the suit, with Stane most likely inside of it, was after Pepper. The agents started firing their weapons as they ran, and she caught eyes with Coulson, giving her a little nod, and she moved with a little more purpose. Peter was crying in her arms, holding onto her tightly.

There were sparks and the sound of an explosions behind them, Stane on the war path. The were out the door, Stane getting stuck on the concrete behind them, and they were headed towards the cars. "Get in the car!" She shouted to Pepper. "Get out of here!"

Pepper was suddenly pressing a finger to her ear. "Tony! Tony, are you okay?" She was talking to Tony, he was still alive then. Mary was rubbing Peter's back as they talked. "Obidiah, he's gone insane! He built a suit, and-"

The ground rumbled and Mary looked around. Concrete started to move from in front of Pepper, something coming up. Correction, Obidiah Stane was breaking through the ground with his suit. He flung the concrete up and Mary ducked down to cover Peter. Mary saw out of the corner of her eye Pepper fall tot he ground, a smaller piece of concrete catching her in the temple. She was still alive, she could see the movement of her chest. Mary stood up, about to check on her, but was stopped by the giant of a machine.

"Where do you think you're going?" He pointed a hand towards her and Peter, Peter starting to cry louder, his grip tighter on Mary. "You just had to intervene. I would have let you and your son live, but now, your services are no longer required." Mary's eyes widened when the machine gun in the arm started to whir to life.

"Stane!" Mary and Stane looked over, something shooting through the sky towards him. That was Tony's voice! Tony slammed into Stane, driving them through the ground, and out of sight. She took a trembling breath and went over to Pepper, freeing one hand to check on her pulse, while never once letting go of Peter.

She could still feel a strong pulse coming from the PA. "Peter, Peter baby, are you okay?" She turned her attention to Peter, knowing that Stane was going to come back in the immediate five seconds. "Did he hurt you, baby?" she brushed her hands all over Peter's face, arms, back, everywhere. She saw the little trail of blood, and felt her heart stop a little. "Peter?"

Peter wasn't crying as loudly now, his sniffles calming down a little. "He was going after Daddy," he said through breaths, his little chest heaving with mostly shock. He was scared. Mary wanted to kill Stane herself. "He said he killed Daddy! Mama!" He started to cry again and she held onto him tightly. There was a low rumble and she looked up, seeing something streak up into the sky.

"Peter, look up, look at that baby," she pointed up, and turned the little boy to the sky. "He didn't do it, that's Daddy up there, right now." Peter hiccuped with little sobs, looking up, wiping his eyes with his arm. Mary was barely aware of Coulson and a couple other agents coming out. They were moving the wounded ones to the cars, Coulson stopping to lean down by them and Pepper. "Daddy's still alive, he came back to protect you."

"Ms Parker," Coulson said quietly, and she looked over at him. Someone was already moving Pepper to the backseat of the car, and Coulson was handing her the bluetooth device Pepper had been using to talk to Tony. "Hello, Peter." Coulson had met Peter a couple of times, at home, right after she had started her new job. "Would you like to sit with me in the car? That way your Mom can help your Dad stop the bad guy?"

Peter looked at Mary, his little jaw wobbling with tears, and fear. He didn't want to leave her, he didn't want anything else to happen, but when he looked back up into the sky, he knew that his Daddy would need help.

Mary hugged Peter tightly, kissing the top of his head. "We'll just sit in the car, and I promise that you'll be able to see them the whole time," Coulson continued. Peter nodded a little.

"You are my brave little boy," Mary whispered to him. "My very brave boy, just like Captain America."

Peter shook his head in the negative this time as Mary let go to let Coulson pick him up. "No, brave like Daddy."

"Potts!" Mary stood up quickly, looking up when she heard Tony's voice, slipping the ear piece in.

"Tony!" Mary exclaimed.

"Mary?" Tony looked up.

"Oh my god, are you okay?!" She moved forward a little, knowing that Coulson would take care of Peter, no matter how much she wanted to keep him with her. She couldn't let him get hurt anymore though.

"I'm almost out of power, I've gotta get out of this thing." He started to disasemble the suit manually. "Did you find Peter? Is he okay?"

"We've got Peter, Tony, he's going to be fine," Mary breathed out. "Just, hurry up back down here."

"I'll be right there." Tony flipped the faceplate up, about to take off the helmet, when a rumble on the roof caught his attention. Stane landed and aimed his weapons right at Tony. Tony's eyes widened and the faceplate went back down, moving back to avoid the hit. How had he survived from the fall?

"Weapons status?" Tony breathed out, as he jumped at Stane. The giant arm of the suit caught Tony, and started to squeeze.

"Repulsors offline. Missiles offline," Jarvis reported mournfully. Stane squeezed again, the HUD display starting to crack, and more red than anything was flashing in his face.

"Flares!" Tony shouted, and smoke and light filled their visions, giving him the opportunity to get away.

Mary was looking up towards the roof, starting to look around for a ladder, or anything to get up there to help. "Mary!" Tony whisper shouted.

"Tony!" She looked up again, antsy on her feet.

"This isn't working," Tony whispered, and Mary listened very closely. "We're going to have to overload the reactor and blast the roof."

"How are you going to do that?" She asked, looking in towards the giant arc reactor in the building.

"You're going to do it." Her eyes widened a little at Tony's words. "Go to the central console, open up all the circuits." She was already moving, running inside of the building as he gave directions. "When I get clear of the roof, I'll let you know, you're going to hit the master bypass button. It's going to fry everything up here."

"I'm already in, Tony," she told him, pulling off the panel to get access to the circuits.

"Make sure you wait till I clear the roof. I'll buy you some time," Tony said, moving away as Stane thumped closer.

Mary looked at the circuits and blinked, both impressed and overwhelmed at what she saw. She started to pull on the main power levers before heading over to the center console. There was a faint clink and she looked up to see Tony slide over onto the glass. She bit her lip, sparks in the air. "It's ready Tony, get off the roof!"

She gasped, ducking when the glass suddenly broke, showering the ground. "Mary!" She looked up at Tony's shout.

Mary would have to push the button. Tony hung from the edge of the framework, Obidiah trying to still hit him with his missiles. "Time to push the button!"

"You'll die!" Mary shouted back.

Time was running out. If that's what would happen, and it would keep both Mary and Peter safe, then that's what had to happen. He made a promise, and he was going to keep it. He wouldn't let this be Peter's legacy, he wouldn't let danger keep coming after him. "Just do it!" He shouted back down. Stane launched another missile and the roof shook, making him dangle, to where he could see Mary now.

"Tony!" She shouted, tears in her eyes.

"Push it!"

Mary pursed his lips together, then slammed her hand on the button, vaulting over the bar, and running from the building as the arc reactor over powered, lightning and sparks flying through the air like a giant tesla coil. She cleared the building, running towards the cars, turning around, hoping for any sign on Tony, as an explosion suddenly rocked the building, fire bursting in plumes from the windows and doors and the roof.

"Tony!"

* * *

Mary held onto Peter as they sat in the back of the limo, running her hands through his hair as they watched the little TV of the press conference. Tony had been whisked away by more agents, SHIELD as they had come up with now, and poor Peter hadn't even been able to speak to him. They had both barely gotten any sleep, but Coulson had assured them that Tony was awake now, and doing fine.

The door opened, Coulson slid in as Tony took the podium. Peter perked up in Mary's lap at the sight of Tony, a bit of relief winding through his little body.

"He'll come out here as soon as he's done," Coulson told her. "Take as much time as you need, the Director will be handling Tony for the next couple of weeks." Mary nodded a little, her arm still around Peter's middle, even as he tried to scooch closer to the TV. "He doesn't know you'll be here, so it should be a nice surprise."

"Thank you, Coulson," she smiled at him, kissing his cheek. They both stopped, blinking a bit at the action. "For a lot, last night, and today." She hurried through, sure that her cheeks were blushing a little. Coulson nodded a little, and pat her arm, ruffling Peter's hair a little, and slid out of the limo.

-"truth is." Mary looked back over, hearing Tony's voice, hearing his hesitation. She didn't like where this was going. "I am Iron Man." The press room exploded with shouting and pictures, and Mary just wanted to facepalm. This was going to make it difficult, again, for them to be a family without the press.

"Is Daddy coming here now?" Peter asked quietly, looking back up at Mary. Tony was gone from the screen. Mary pulled him back against her chest and nodded.

"As soon as they can get him out of the building," Mary said, nodding. It didn't take long until the door opened again, the voices of reporters following, and Tony slid in the limo quickly, the door closing, and he let out a breath.

"Daddy!" Peter launched himself at Tony, wrapping his arms around Tony's neck. Tony gasped a little, surprised, then realized what was happening and he wrapped his arms around Peter immediately, closing his eyes tightly. "Daddy, I was so scared, and then you were gone, and I couldn't find you, then Mama was there..." Peter started to let out little sniffles, bumbling through his words and thoughts.

"It's okay," Tony sussed, pressing his nose into Peter's hair, rubbing his back. "I'm here, I'm here now. There's no more bad guy to hurt you. I'm so sorry, so sorry, Peter," Tony whispered. Mary dabbed at her eye with the knuckle of her finger, but had a little smile on her face. They'd make do, they always had until now.


	5. May 2007 - Nov 2009

**A/N: This chapter is a lot later than I would have liked, but I ran into some tough family health issues this weekend, and it's still not over. I'm a caretaker for my mother, (much too young, for either of us), and there's a lot of tough decisions up ahead. But, this story, and knowing that so many people love it, is a nice escape for me to get back, too. I'm in love with the characters, I love watching them grow, and helping them grow, because I think that's what's supposed to happen in a long, involved, story such as this one is shaping up to be.**

 **Also, I try to plan out the chapters before I write them, give a vague outline of what scenes I want to happen, and I was going to get to the beginning of Iron Man 2 in this chapter, but Captain Rogers had different plans for me when he bust on the scene. I hope everyone likes this chapter, this is the start of that slow build tag. I do hope that some of the cliche things, that all you lovelies see coming, are handled in a way that at least you enjoy.**

 **Please, continue giving your feedback, it really brings a smile to my face to see your comments, to see the kudos and likes, and bookmarks, and the views. Thank you to Everyone! Enjoy!**

 **As per usual, unbeat'd.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**  
 **Anyway, enjoy more cuteness! Some of the lines were taken from the movie directly, (I'm watching it as I go), and that's all owned by Marvel, not by me.**

* * *

 **May 2007**

Tony waved away another set of voicemails from talk shows, reporters, and journalists. He rubbed the spot between his eyes and plopped down on the couch. There were still lots of papers to go through, trying to sort out Obidiah's mess with the company. They were still going through employees, cleaning out those who had been loyal to Stane, and who had willingly helped him with the weapons, and the plot to have Tony killed.

What Tony really lamented was that he hadn't been able to leave his house, or the company, without the paparazzi hounding him at the gates. They were getting pictures of every vehicle that got close to his street. He had been forced to stay with video chats with Peter, and Mary, since the press conference.

Tony was looking forward to tonight, though; when Peter would call, and Mary had said that he wanted to wish Tony Happy Birthday. His last birthday had been almost the same, and unsurprisingly to him, the best Birthday he'd had since he could remember. he didn't tell Mary this, but after a one-year-old Peter had gotten out "Happy Birfday, Daddy!", Tony may have teared up afterwards a little in the privacy of his own bedroom.

"Tony?" Tony sat up when he heard Pepper's voice, and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm here, Pep." He pushed up the sleeves of his shirt, and half attempted to push all the papers into one pile on the coffee table. Pepper didn't usually visit on his birthday, mostly because every year she found him drunker than was humanly possible either at home, or at some club, making headlines. This should be a nice surprise for her this year.

Pepper's heels clicked across the floor and she looked at him, raising an eyebrow. Her eyes raked across the surface of the table, then the floor, then back at him. "Did you forget what day it is?"

"If you talking about the lack of alcohol, no, I have no forgotten what day it is," Tony informed her. He was going to be talking to Peter soon, and he was always very careful not to drink, the one rule of Mary's that he never broke.

Pepper looked down at her phone, typing out something before looking back up at him. "Well, I didn't actually think I'd see it, a sober birthday." She gave him a little smile and now Tony was raising his eyebrow. "Although, your sudden aversion to peanuts? Was it actually because of a peanut allergy?"

Tony blinked, not sure how exactly to respond. It was an innocent enough question, but Pepper knew for a fact that Tony didn't have a peanut allergy. He opened his mouth to give some bullshit excuse, but frowned when he heard a couple more sets of footsteps. Craning his head a little he saw Rhodey, and his faithful driver and bodyguard, Happy Hogan coming in the room. Then his heart absolutely melted, and froze at the same time, at the next voice that he heard.

"Happy Birfday, Daddy!" Tony shot up from the couch when he saw Mary walked in, Peter on her hip, the little boy grinning. Tony practically ran over, scooping up Peter from Mary's arms, Peter giggling, and started tickling his sides, dropping little kisses all over his face. "Daddy!"

Tony cuddled the toddler in his arms, Peter's hand instantly seeking out Tony's arc reactor, and looked up at Mary. She was smiling at him, and shrugged a bit. Tony looked around at the other three in the room, two of them looking a little shocked at what had just happened. Rhodey held up his hands in surrender.

"I was just told that there was going to be a little party," Tony's best friend told him.

"Well, it wasn't exactly hard to put together," Pepper said, having snapped out of her stupor, not sure she ever would have seen Tony Stark acting like a father. "Specially after what happened last month."

"And the fact that he's like looks like a tiny you," Happy threw in.

"Try raising him," Mary murmured and Tony shot her a look, causing her to grin again.

"I have been," Pepper smiled at Mary, the two women suddenly having a bonding point.

"Miss Potts approached me last week," Mary started to explain to Tony. "She had put the pieces together, and well, there really was no point in hiding anything anymore, and we could always use more allies after your Profound four word statement." Tony was never going to live down coming out as Iron Man. And he had indeed stuck with the name; it was better than Gold Titanium Alloy Man. Although….

"Hey Pep, what about GTA Man?" Tony said, looking to his PA. Who wouldn't want to be named after a popular video game. The answering unamused look from Pepper said everything.

"I like Happy's name," Peter mumbled, finger tracing the arc reactor. "He says he drives you around. Like when we was in the limo."

Tony ran his hand through Peter's hair and nodded. "Yeah, he does. He was driving the limo that we were in." Peter smiled and leaning his head against Tony's shoulder. "What are you all doing here anyway?" Tony asked the others. "Not that I'm not very happy about this, but-"

"It's your birthday, Tony," Mary said first. "Peter, what do we get on birthdays?"

Peter perked up in Tony's arms. "Blueberry pancakes!" Tony laughed kissed his head.

"I was promised lunch and cake," Rhodey said, smiling at the promise of food. "Plus, I get to see the squirt again." Peter giggled softly when he knew that Rhodey was talking about him. Tony smiled. He would be happy if he only just got to spend a few hours with Peter, it would make his birthday worth it.

He tried not to be weirded out, or worried, when Happy and Mary spent some time in the kitchen making food for everyone, and he started to hear laughing. They had probably been sharing stories about Tony. That had scared him, and the smirks he got when they had been eating dinner had been all the answer that he needed.

Rhodey had sat on the floor, letting Peter show him the drawings he had done, and then started reciting his numbers for him. Tony had grinned, his boy was smart, and learning fast, and he was the proud Daddy. Even pepper had spent some time listening to Peter, hearing stories about times that he and Tony had spent together, all the fun things they had done together.

Mary had brought a cake for everyone, knowing that Tony had liked the one that she had baked for Peter's birthdays, and that had caused an inquisitive look from Pepper. He knew that he was going to have to have a long talk with Pepper later. Now though, everyone had left, except for Mary and Peter, and Peter was bringing over Tony's present. Tony was sitting on the edge of the couch, waiting for him to come over.

"I made you this all by myself," Peter said, grinning widely, pushing the big bag over to him.

Tony grinned and sat down on the floor in front of the bag, Mary lounging on the couch, watching them with a smile. It was a tall bag, but not very heavy. Tony pulled out a big presentation notebook and put it in his lap. When he opened it he saw that there were drawings tucked into the clear sleeves. The first one was of, Tony assumed, Peter. They were better than stick figures, something that one would probably expect to see from a 6 year old. Tony could see why Peter liked coloring and drawing so much; he was very good at it.

Tony flipped through the pages, seeing a drawing of Peter and Mary, one Peter and Tony, and one of all three of them together. Tony grinned when he saw a drawing of the red and gold armor of the Iron Man suit. He put his arm out, beckoning Peter closer. When the toddler was there Tony wrapped his arm Peter, pulling him into his chest and planting a kiss on the top of his head.

"Do you like it?" Peter asked, ticking himself into Tony's side.

"I more than like it," Tony said, grinning at him. "I love it. This is my favorite present ever!" Peter giggled and grinned. Tony was sure that he'd be saying that every year, but he was sure that Peter's gifts would always be his favorite. Being able to spend his birthday with Peter would be worth the awkward conversations with Pepper and Happy later.

* * *

 **August 2009**

Tony blinked, looking at Mary, and she stared back at him evenly. "I must have misheard you," Tony said eventually.

"You didn't," Mary said back to him. Tony had come over to her apartment, and saw some boxes in the living room. This was new.

"I'm pretty sure that you said that you were moving, because you had been, transferred?" Tony looked at the boxes again, seeing some stuff already in the boxes. "And that you were moving to Queens? Queens, really?"

"I said Cambria Heights," Mary tried to correct him.

"That's in Queens," Tony shot back. "That's in New York, which is actually on the complete other side of the country." Tony frowned when he saw some of Peter's stuff already packed as well.

"I hope you aren't going to try and pull the guilt card," Mary followed him around, pulling his arm away from starting to unpack some of the stuff. "I know for a fact that traveling isn't hard for you, and I know that there's a SI office in New York."

Tony whined a bit. "But that would mean leaving Malibu, and cold weather is coming."

"I'm moving Tony," Mary said with a little sigh. "It wasn't my first choice, but I kind of have to do it when I get the orders from higher up."

"And how does Agent feel about this?" Tony asked, with a bit of snark. It hadn't gone unnoticed by Tony that Mary may or may not be dating her boss. At least, that's what he gathered when Peter kept talking about Agent Coulson showing up more often at their apartment. Tony didn't do jealousy, and of course Mary was allowed to date whoever she wanted, but Tony didn't like not knowing.

"Wow," Mary smirked at him. "That almost sounds like jealousy." Tony scowled at her. "I said almost. Maybe you need to find your own guy." Tony sputtered a little and Mary's smirk turned shark-like. "Oh, please, I've slept with you, and I raise a child with you. I know you aren't shy about your sexuality."

"I'm not!" Tony frowned and took out a blanket to put it back on the couch, out of spite. "I don't care who knows, I'm an equal opportunist."

Mary tilted her head a little, looking at him. "Anthony Stark, mighten you be actually ready to look for something that might turn into a serious relationship?"

"When are you supposed to moving?" Tony forcefully changed the subject, bringing forth a little snort from Mary. "And when is Peter coming home?"

"Ouch," Mary put a hand over her heart, feigning a hurt expression. "My co-parent can't even be bothered to come visit me because we're friends." Tony stuck his tongue out at her. He didn't care if it was childish or not. He was a billionaire, and Iron Man, he could do what he wanted. "And we're supposed to be moving in less than a week."

"Less than a week?" Tony turned wide eyes to Mary as she repacked the blanket he pulled out. "Does Peter know yet?"

"Well, not yet," she admitted a little sheepishly. "I just found out yesterday and got the boxes today. I wanted to get out there before a new school year started."

"Did you have him tested yet? He'll be five in October, and I think he should at least be in Kindergarten, if not First grade." Tony worked with Peter all the time on stuff like his numbers, and the alphabet. He was already learning how to write, and knew how to read. They were working on three syllable words at the moment. Peter had Tony's natural learning ability.

"I've got a couple schools just waiting for us to get down there, then he'll go in to take a standard placement test," Mary told him. "You know, I'm not happy about the move either." Tony stopped to look at her. "I didn't ask for it. I'm not sure how Peter will take it, either, he's only ever known Malibu as home."

Tony twitched his nose a little, seeing the little bit of vulnerability peeking through Mary's eyes. They'd known each other almost five years now, and Peter was always their first priority, but they had built a close bond over the years. She would usually call after hearing about Iron Man on the news, checking up on him. And after the press had died down, at least back to a normal level, where he could start to slip away again, he would come over to have dinner with her and Peter at least once a week, staying after Peter went to sleep just to talk.

Tony took a breath, bobbing his head back and forth in thought. "Well, I mean,..." He paused, really thinking about what he was about to say, and possibly do. "I have a house in New York." Mary raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, okay, so it's a mansion, Stark Manor. Howard named it, not my idea."

"I never knew about this place," Mary said, leaning against the back of the couch, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That's because I haven't actually lived there, or been there, since before my parents died," he said, shrugging to try and look like it wasn't a big deal. He'd have to get someone in there to actually dust it, or something. It probably needed to be aired out. The last person to have been there had been Jarvis, the real life person Edwin Jarvis, but he had died a year after his parents had died. "It's in Manhattan, the better of the islands by the way, so it's not too far away."

Mary gave him a little smile, one that Tony knew meant she was containing the grin she wanted to give him, but knew that Tony Stark did not do emotions. "I think that Peter will be overjoyed to know that he's not going to be so far away from his Daddy. And, my parents should be bringing him back home anytime."

Tony nodded a little, snapping his fingers and pounding the flat part of his fist against his open palm in a nervous habit. "Then, I guess we can tell him together that we'll all be moving to New York."

"Good guy, Tony Stark." Mary grinned at him, and Tony scoffed a little.

"I get to take him out on his birthday," Tony mumbled. "Boys day."

"Gives me time to make him a cake for when you get back, then," Mary countered.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door, and Mary wandered over, opening the door. Her parents stood there, Peter in front of them. he grinned at his mom and ran inside, then stopped when he saw Tony. "Daddy!" Tony couldn't help the big grin that appeared every time he heard Peter call him that. He crouched down as Peter ran over to give him a hug, the little boy wrapping his arms around his neck. Tony knew there would come a day when Peter would think he's too old to call him Daddy anymore.

"Hey, buddy!" Tony ruffled his hair, making Peter giggle a little and try to move his head away. "Did you have fun with Grandma and Grandpa, today?" Peter nodded and pulled away, pulling his backpack off his shoulders.

"Yeah! They got me a book to draw in!" He unzipped his bag and pulled out a sketchbook. "It's all blank paper, and they say it's just like adult artists use!"

"Hey, that's pretty awesome, Petey," Tony smiled at him.

"Yeah!" Pete opened the sketchbook to show him a drawing he made of his grandparents house. "It's got really thick paper, and they said that I could even use marker on it! I can use pencil, and crayon, and marker, and all sorts of stuff!"

"Peter, why don't you go put your bag in your room?" Mary told him. "Daddy's gonna stay for dinner, but you still have to get washed up."

"Kay, Mama!" Peter grabbed his bag, still holding onto his sketchbook and was halfway to his room before he doubled back. "Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa." The doting grandparents peppered him with hugs and kisses before Peter ran back for this room.

Tony had stood up, and he walked over to shake Mary's parents hands, her mother still giving him the evil eyes as he did. "Pleasure to see you both again."

"Mr Stark," Mary's father greeted as he shook his hand. He hadn't warmed up to Tony, per se, but he had acknowledged that Tony was at least taking care of Peter, and wasn't a horrible father. Tony had preened a little at the half compliment.

"Did Mary tell you that she's moving," Mrs Fitzpatrick said suddenly. Mary almost facepalmed, but Tony was used to this.

"She did actually," Tony nodded. Mary's mother continued before Tony could go on.

"And what exactly are you going to do when they move?" She pursed her lips a little. "Are you going to stay here, and-"

"I'm actually moving to New York as well," Tony interrupted, and that seemed to shock the older woman. "I have a family house up there, and I can still be close to Peter. Same routine, just a different state." Tony swore he saw a little bit of a smirk on Mr Fitzpatrick's face. "I was actually born in New York, and spent many years there, so I'm sure that I can help Mary and Peter as well."

"Thanks for taking Peter today," Mary said, moving forward to kiss the cheeks of her folks. "We'll talk tomorrow."

"Give Peter our love," her dad said as he hugged her. "Have a good day, Mr Stark." Tony smiled at her parents, giving them a nod as they left, Mary closing the door, letting out a little sigh.

"Your Mom amuses me," Tony said, smirking a little, causing Mary to hit his arm as she walked by. "I think she might be one of my most formidable foes to date!"

"Tony," Mary groaned a little. "You drive me nuts sometimes."

"And yet, you willingly put up with me."

"Pepper must be on some kind of medication after so many years with you." She grinned at Tony's indignant 'Hey!'.

* * *

 **October 2009**

Tony pulled a couple things from the bag on the floor of the backseat of the car, Peter watching with interest. They were sitting in the parking garage by the Smithsonian Museum, getting ready to go inside. Mary had went to DC early, Coulson had wanted to meet with her quickly, and Tony said they would meet up her after he got his time with Peter, like he told her before she moved.

Tony turned to face Peter, smiling, then put on a blue ball cap, and some aviator sunglasses. He then reached over, put on some smaller sunglasses on Peter, and a smaller blue ball cap. Peter giggled and smiled. "We match now!"

"Yeah we do," Tony said with a chuckle. "Alright, Mister, you ready for the surprise?" There was a new exhibit opening at the Smithsonian, and Tony had timed it so they didn't have to wait too long in line. He didn't want to risk being recognized, but he wanted Peter to have fun. It was his son's fifth birthday, and Tony wanted it to be special.

"Yeah!" Peter unbuckled from his booster seat as Tony got out of the front seat. He opened the back door and Peter hopped out, almost vibrating with excitement. Tony took Peter's hand and they headed for the large museum. It was a weekday, and it was early in the day, so there weren't as many people at the museum, just how Tony had hoped it would be.

"What's that big building?" Peter pointed to the museum they were headed towards.

"That, my boy, is the Smithsonian Museum," Tony told him. "There's a lot of history in there, you remember what history is, right?"

"All the stuff from the past," Peter told him, watching all the people walking into the doors of the museum. "Everything that already happened, that we want to remember."

'Close enough,' Tony thought. "Well, this big building has a lot of the stuff from the past in there. And we go to see it, cause it's cool stuff, and we can always learn from the past." Peter looked up at his Dad, wondering if this was going to be boring, but Daddy had never let him down before. "There's a new exhibit there, and I think that you're going to love it."

Once inside the doors, Peter was looking up and around, mouth handing open a little. He had never been inside of a museum, (Tony wanted to make sure that Peter was old enough to remember his first museum visit), and he was absolutely entranced already. Tony guided the little boy towards the spot he wanted to go, and waited for Peter to notice the new banners. It didn't take long.

"Daddy!" Peter pulled on Tony's arm, gasping, pointing up. "Daddy! It's Captain America!" Tony smiled, picking up Peter and putting him up on his shoulders. "Captain America is there!" Tony laughed and nodded, Peter leaning forward on his head now, just trying to get closer to the banners.

"Let's go inside, and we'll learn all about Captain America, and the mighty Howling Commandos." Tony grinned as Peter squealed with excitement.

* * *

Mary followed Coulson down the hallway after stepping out of the elevator. Coulson seemed almost giddy and Mary had raised an eyebrow. She never saw him like this when they were at work."Not that this isn't important, but it isn't something that could have waited until tomorrow?" She caught up and walked next to him, purposely making their arms bump once.

"Not in the least," Coulson said, giving her a smile. "We'll still have time to meet up with Tony and Peter. But this also relates to your next assignment." He used his card, sliding it over a panel and the steel door unlocked. He pulled it open, pausing to let Mary go through first. She stepped in and saw a large window across from them, several SHIELD scientists in the room, gathered around something on a table, and a slew of machines in the room.

Mary turned her head to look at Coulson, who was practically bouncing on his feet now, and they went up to the window. Looking inside the room she could then see that the something on the table, was actually a person. She sucked in a breath and put her hand over her mouth. She easily recognized the mans face.

"Is that-"

"Yes, yes it is." Coulson grinned. "It's a miracle, actually. that's he's still alive."

"Where was he?" Mary looked at the nearly unthawed body of Steven Rogers, Captain America, still in his World War II suit. There were only little bits of ice, and she was sure that it would only take a couple of more days to disappear.

"They found him in the arctic, still in the plane that he crashed, saving the world," Coulson told her, looking through the window. "They started to unthaw him, and then he started actually showing vital signs. The man survived after almost sixty-five years in the ice." Coulson looked at Mary now. "They think that he's going to wake up within the next couple of weeks."

"Okay, before I ask work related questions," Mary started, turning towards Coulson, "I have to ask. How excited are you?" She got a surprised smile when she was sure that that Coulson just let out a little squeak. "Why do all my boys like Captain America?" She shook her head fondly.

Coulson cleared his throat a little, smoothing his tie down a little. "Sadly, we can't share this information with Peter-"

"Or Tony," Mary threw in.

"-or Tony. In the next couple of days he'll be moved to the New York building," Coulson told her, pulling out his PDA. "You're going to be his Handler." Mary's eyebrows shot up into her hairline.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to need you to repeat that?" Mary was sure that it was a mistake that they would make her Captain America's Handler.

"I made the argument, and Director Fury agreed, that you would probably be the best option." Coulson continued on.

"What about you?" Mary asked. "You're a much better Handler than I am."

"I sometimes have my hands full with Barton and Romanoff," Coulson said shrugging. "You have a young child, so you have patience, and you can handle Stark-" Mary snorted loudly, "-so you have the gumption, too. And, it's an added bonus."

"Bonus that you'll have an excuse to drop in and see both of us?" She smirked at him.

"You do still report directly to me." Coulson grinned.

"After he's moved to New York, what's the plan?" Mary asked, looking back through the window at the sleeping hero.

"They're setting up a room, hoping to make things more comfortable when he wakes up." Coulson said, pulling up the details on his PDA before handing it to Mary. She frowned a little, and raised an eyebrow.

"Do they really think that it's the best course of action to try and fool him?" Mary saw the plans to set up a room that would appear to be from the 40's. "There are so many variables that we don't about when he was alive, and this particular plan would require getting every detail right."

"We have a lot of information about the 1940's," Coulson said, referring to history and technology. "We can recreate practically anything with the tech that we have now."

"But a lot of information was still lost during the war, and that's the time period that he's from." She wiggled her nose a little. "If I make up a plan, will you look it over, and promise that it won't get shot down right away?"

"I can get it in front of the Director," Coulson nodded. He took his PDA back from Mary when she offered it. "Shall we go get a table from the restaurant before Tony and Peter get there first?"

"Yes, let's," Mary nodded, turning away from the window. "I'll never hear the end of it from Tony if he beats us."

"I don't think he will, think about where he took Peter." Coulson smiled. He had given valuable knowledge to the Smithsonian for the exhibit and had already gotten a private tour. He knew that Peter would love it, and subsequently Tony. "It anything, we might be sitting there for a couple more hours," he chuckled.

Mary and Coulson knew the moment that Tony and Peter arrived at the restaurant, and Mary was very glad that she had picked a very casual restaurant, where you seat yourself. A small plastic Captain America shield went flying over their head, landing on the floor, and there was an adult sounding 'Whoop!' from behind. Peter ran over, grinning, picking up his shield, his plain ballcap from earlier replaced with a blue ball cap with the shields symbol embroidered on it. He was also sporting a new Captain America t-shirt underneath his new Captain America hoodie.

"Mama!" Peter grinned, hurrying over to jump up and hug her.

Mary laughed and kissed his cheeks. "Hey there, baby. Did you have fun?" Tony walked over, wearing a matching hat, and t-shirt under his leather jacket, taking a seat across from Mary. There was a chocolate milk at the seat that was across from Coulson, and he assumed that was meant for Peter.

"I had tons of fun!" Peter grinned, then he saw Coulson. "Hi, Phil." Peter smiled and waved at the agent. Tony raised an amused eyebrow at Mary.

"Hello, Peter," Coulson smiled at him. "I see you were finally able to get a new hoodie."

"Yeah!" Peter smiled, still in Mary's lap. "This one is bigger, and should last for loooooong time."

"I bought three of them in the next sizes up, so we're readily prepared," Tony said, taking a drink of the water that was at his seat. "Come here, Petey, let's look at the menu, then you can tell them about all the awesome stuff we saw."

Peter jumped slid from Mary's lap and ran over to the seat, a booster seat on it, and Tony lifted him up onto it. With the hat and sunglasses on, at first glance everyone would see a father and son having fun, wearing matching outfits. Mary couldn't help but smile when she watched her son, and Tony, thinking about how the older man had changed from the first time they met. Coulson put an arm on the back of Mary's chair, prompting a slightly bigger smile. The move hadn't been so bad, so far.

* * *

 **November 2009**

Mary pulled out her phone, sending a text to Tony, letting him know that she was heading out. He had taken Peter for the day, which really helped as she was still trying to find a babysitter that she could trust. Tony had told her that she could do it anytime, because he was working on something new that would happen in New York, so he didn't plan on going back to Malibu in the short-term future.

She smirked a little when he responded with a text of peter trying to help with dinner. Seemed she wouldn't even have to worry about dinner either. Coulson was out of the state at the moment anyway, and she had been exhausted after work today, so not having to worry about cooking was a bigger relief than Tony would know. It looked to be an easy night.

Until she heard the shouting from behind, footsteps running. She turned and her eyes widened as the same time she resigned herself to this being her luck. There was a very awake, very determined, and startled, looking Steve Rogers running across the lobby. Mary had told them that the 1940's room wasn't going to work, and it seemed she had been right as a small mass of Agents ran after him. The last thing he remembered was fighting Hydra, and SHIELD was still the SSR, and it was also 65 years ago.

Mary dropped her bag and coat and flung herself into his path at the last second, putting her hands on his chest when he grabbed her, picking her up instead of trampling her, catching him by surprise. "Captain Rogers, stop!" She called out in the most authoritative, and mom sounding, voice she had. His feet halted on military instinct and he looked at her, setting her back on her feet, ready to bolt again. Mary signaled for the other Agents to stop where they were, never taking her eyes off of Steve Rogers.

"At ease," she told him, standing her ground, moving an inch to the right as he had moved to his left. "This is the SHIELD, specifically, the SSR." That got him to stop moving, his eyes glancing around, probably looking for proof. She kept one hand up to him, showing it was empty, and reached inside her jacket with her other hand to pull out her badge. She opened it, holding it out to let him examine it. "My name is Mary Parker, Senior Agent, working for SHIELD, formerly of the FBI. You can call to verify if you'd like."

Steve Rogers' eyes studied the ID, flicking back and forth between Mary and the badge in his hand, before eventually handing it back to her. She suddenly saw a sadness in his eyes, along with confusion. "I'm sorry about that room back there, but they thought it might be easier to ease you into what happened.."

"What did happen, ma'am?" He asked her, blue eyes looking for an answer she probably wasn't going to be able to give.

"You've been asleep, Captain," Mary started. "You've been asleep for nearly sixty-five years." Steve kept her gaze before looking up, out the windows of the lobby, now really taking in the differences of what he saw. She put out her hand, palm up, a gentle gesture, and he took her hand, letting her lead him to the doors. They stepped out and Steve blinked a bit at the sunlight, but at all the technology around him. "You gonna be okay?" Mary asked after a few minutes.

"Yeah," Steve said slowly, quietly. "I'll be okay," Mary took that as the bullshit answer that it was, but didn't say anything. "It's just," he took a breath, and there was that sadness creeping out into his voice a little now. "I had a date."

Mary watched him, then pulled out her phone again. She really didn't want to send this text, but it wasn't really a choice now; this was her job. 'Gonna be late, something came up at work.'

"Come on, Captain," she said to him, catching his attention again. "Let's get you to your new apartment, and I'll answer any questions I can. We're gonna take this slow." He nodded and followed her, but knew that he was eyeing every other agents, and probably taking stock of her as well. This was going to be fun.

Mary made sure that Captain Rogers had some clothes, shoes, and a jacket before they went back outside, going to her car. She let him take his time taking stock of the car, and letting him push almost every button on the inside as well.

"New York has changed a bit," she said, smirking a little at his snort as he looked out the tinted windows.

"That's a bit of an understatement, ma'am," he said, manners still intact as a gentleman and an Officer. "Is New York still part of the United States?"

Mary nodded and she started the car. He frowned a little. "It certainly is. All the work that you did back in World War II, it went very far, it helped the Allies win the war." She noted that he was looking around the inside of the car when she put it into drive. "Is something wrong?"

"I was actually wondering if something was wrong with this vehicle," Steve admitted. "It's very quiet."

"Ah," she nodded a little, understanding now. "Cars have come a long way, engineering has advanced probably faster than you could have imagined." Mary knew that Tony would probably be able to help Steve understand a lot of what's changed, but she wasn't sure that it would be a very good idea. Coulson had given her the history lesson on Captain America, (better than what the files had said), and she knew that he had known Tony's father. And Tony's father was a taboo subject with him, so these two meeting at the moment probably wasn't a good idea on several levels.

"You said that that you were taking me to an apartment?" Mary wasn't sure if he was asking a question, or making a statement. "Am I not going to a military base?"

"Nope," Mary said shaking her head, merging into bridge traffic. "At the moment, no one else knows that you're back."

"Does that mean I'm in SHIELD custody?" It was asked in a guarded fashion, and Mary knew that she had to answer this one carefully.

"You're not in custody at all," Mary told him. "You were working with both the Army and the SSR at the time, and the SSR is now known as SHIELD. You technically still work for SHIELD, and we're using that technicality to keep you out of custody from anyone." Steve glanced over at her. "They've named me your Handler, but basically I'm going to help you understand all the changes that have happened, and help you make a decision on what's going to happen now."

"What choices do I actually have?" Steve looked back out the window as they drove over the bridge. "Are we going to Queens?"

"Yes, we're going to Queens," Mary answered first. "It's where I live, and it's where I've set up an apartment for you." She thought about how to answer his first question. "Your choices, are many, but maybe complicated." Even Mary wrinkled her nose at that. "You could always go back into the Army, you could become an Agent with SHIELD, or you could do anything else you wanted. Maybe go to Art school, or volunteer." Steve hummed a little, watching the scenery out the window now.

Mary pulled up in front of her apartment building, and Steve studied it. The building was smaller than he thought, and he only saw four mailboxes by the one door. Mary got out, and Steve quickly figured out the new handle and slid out of the car as well, moving forward to take the bags from Mary as she pulled them out of the backseat. She blinked then gave him a smile in response.

"So, I've actually got you the apartment next to mine," she started heading for the door and Steve followed. She pulled out a key and opened the front door, holding it open for Steve to walk in. "We're the only ones on the ground floor, I thought it might be easier, and give a little bit of privacy." They passed a staircase, Steve took a second to glance up, then looked down the hall and saw two doors that were across from each other. There was a '1' on the door on the left, and a '2' on the door on the right.

"I left the key to your apartment in mine, so bear with me." Mary used a different key to open her door, holding it open for Steve once again, and dropped off her jacket on a highbacked chair by the door. Steve stopped in the entryway and looked around. These apartments were much bigger than he had ever seen, even the apartment that Bucky and his family lived in. The living room was very large, two couches there, and the largest TV he had ever seen. The dining room was separate from the kitchen, and the kitchen even had an island in the middle, giving more counter space than he thought his favorite local diner used to have.

"I'm sorry about the mess," Mary called out as she walked into a room off of the living room. He edged forward to peek in, noticing that it was set up as a study. There were a couple of bookcases, some metal file cabinets, and a large desk with a leather chair on wheels. There was what looked like a TV screen on the desk as well with a smaller typing keyboard in front of it.

Looking around the apartment again Steve noticed toys, blankets, and some stray clothes lying around. He saw picture frames on the wall, and on table surfaces, almost all of them containing a small boy.

"You have a son?" Steve asked, moving closer to a set of pictures that showed the boy as he grew up through the years. He tilted his head in curiosity when he saw a picture of the same boy sitting on the chest of a man, both of them wearing ball caps and t-shirts that had the symbol of his shield on them.

"Yeah." Mary came out of the room, a keychain in her hand, and came up next to Steve. "He just turned five last month, just before you woke up. That's my Peter." Steve noticed the smile on her face as she looked at the pictures. "That picture," she pointed to the one Steve was just looking at, "was taken the night of his birthday. That's his Dad, and it's where he's at right now. I might actually be able to clean this place up before I pick up him, too."

"You two don't live together?" Steve wondered what kind of man this father was. "You aren't married?"

"Oh, goodness no," Mary said chuckling. "I'm not his type, and we're much better off as friends and co-parents." She looked at Steve and gave him a soft smile. "A lot has changed when it comes to relationships as well, for better and worse. I'm not a single mother, but I am dating someone right now, as well. Peter seems to like him, and I was kind of worried about that." There was a short jingle, and then a high pitched voice coming from Mary's pocket, _'Hey! Hey! Listen!'_. Steve found it vaguely annoying. "I'm sorry, that's actually him." She pulled out a sleek black device, the screen lighting up for a short time as she tapped her thumb across the screen, then put it back in her pocket.

"Is his father dating anyone?" Steve couldn't help but want to know more about this man, to know if he was doing the right thing by Mary. Things must have changed if they were able to raise a child and not live together, or even get married, but there was still such a thing as having honor.

"That, I'm not sure about." Mary took her bag from Steve's hand, dropping it on the couch, then jingled the keys a bit. "Let's get you over to your place now, though. My life isn't nearly as entertaining as some of the things that you'll discover in this time." Steve nodded and followed her out of the apartment, reaching forward to hold the door open as she walked through. "Word of advice, Captain, never lose your sense of manners," Mary said smiling. She walked across the hall and used the keys from the new keychain to open the door, but this time held it open for Steve to walk in first.

Walking in, Steve looked around, noting that the apartment wasn't as big as the one that Mary had, but it was bigger than what he used to live in back in Brooklyn. Everything felt vaguely familiar, the furniture looking vastly different from what Mary had. It reminded him of furniture he would see in the windows of the high end furniture stores in his time.

"I tried to get furnishings that you might be more familiar, and comfortable with," Mary said as she gently shut the door. In the kitchen was an icebox that looked new to him, something that he and his mother never had the luxury of owning. The stove looked better than anything he had every seen, with few buttons, and he was sure he could figure out anything he didn't know.

"I appreciate that, ma'am," Steve said, looking at her as he spoke, before going to explore the rest of the apartment. The bedroom was painted a soft beige color, the bedspread a solid blue color, tucked in with hospital corners. Another room across from the bedroom looked like it was a study similar to the one that Mary had. There were some folders already sitting on the desk.

"I've already set up some files for you to read." Mary was standing in the hallway, following a bit behind as he explored, ready to answer any questions. "Read them at your leisure. Some of them might be a bit hard, I'm not sure, but it's information on those that you knew during the war, and from Project Rebirth." Steve nodded, eyes locked on the files. He knew that information about Peggy, and Howard, and the Howling Commandos would be there.

"I've got to go get my son, soon," Mary said and Steve turned to face her now. "I want you to have all the time you need to process-"

"I don't mean to be rude," Steve said, internally cringing at interrupting, but he had to know something, "but I have to know, are things really going this easily right now?" Mary tilted her head, eyebrow raised in confusion. "Well, you're very kind ma'am, and very helpful, but I would think that others would want things to move quickly for me, to get me back out in the field."

"To use you as an asset," Mary said, and Steve nodded once. "Well, that's the beauty of me being appointed your Handler. I get to do things at my discretion," Mary started to explain. "My way of thinking is, you're still human, still a man, and waking up after over six decades is going to be hard to process right away, hard to take in. Things have changed a lot for you, and I don't think that it will help you any if you're forced through anything, and don't have the proper time to digest." She shrugged a little, as if this was just something that should be done. "I'm a mother, so I know patience, and because of how Peter's father is something, I know a lot of coping skills," she said with a chuckle, and Steve became a little more curious about this man.

"I want you to know though, that if you have any questions, you can ask me," Mary told him. "At any time, I don't even care if it's three in the morning. I'm going to help you learn the new tech of this time period, and the new cultural and social norms."

"I don't want to take up too much of your time, though," Steve said. She was a single mother, in essence, and Steve knew how hard that had been for his own mother.

"Nonsense, this is my job, and I'm happy to do it." She gave him a smile, and Steve felt his lips turn up a little at the corner. "If you feel like it, you're welcome to come over after I pick up Peter. I'm sure that his father has promised him some type of desert after dinner, and I'll have to deliver on it. I haven't eaten, and I know you haven't either, so you can come and eat." She wanted to take it easy, didn't want to overwhelm him, and Steve felt comfortable with her, and he wanted to begin to trust her. "I know it might be a lot, and that my son will be there-"

"It sounds lovely," Steve said, before she could start on a nervous talking streak. "I'd actually like to do that, thank you for the generous offer. I wish I could bring something, though."

Mary waved her hand, shaking her head a little. "Don't worry about it. The only thing I'll say is that I'm not going to tell my son that you're Captain America. For two reasons."

"Because he's apparently a fan?" Steve remembered the picture he just saw, with the little boy wearing his shield.

"Very much so, and I blame his dad for that," Mary said with a chuckle. "He'll never let you have a moment to himself, and then he won't be able to stop from telling everyone. I think right now, no one needs to know that your back, because you need time for yourself. And then you can make the choice later on."

"Which choice is that?" Steve asked. He knew it wasn't the same choices they had discussed in the car, and he had an inkling, but he just wanted to know.

"On whether or not that Captain America continues," Mary said, confirming his thoughts. "Oh!" She started walking back into the bedroom, remembering something important. Steve followed and watched her walk over to a wooden armoire, opening the two doors. He saw the shield sitting there, on display, the same as the day he went down with the plane. Mary had moved and Steve walked forward, dropping the bags that he had forgotten he was still holding, and reached out, running his fingers along the edge.

After a couple of moments, Mary softly cleared her throat. "I'm going to go get Peter now, and I'll let you explore more." She set down the keychain on one of the bedside tables. "The blue key is to your apartment, and the red one is to my apartment. There is a phone out int he living room, it's going to look mighty different from what you're used too, but there's a list of phone numbers next to the phone, along with some instructions. If you have any questions before I get back, please feel free to call."

Steve nodded, and tore his eyes away from the shield. "Thank you very much, Miss Parker," Steve said quietly.

"Please, you can call me Mary," She said, giving him a soft, very motherly, smile. "And if you change your mind about tonight, I won't be offended. A lot can happen between now and the time I come back." Steve nodded, giving a small smile. He followed her back to the front door, opening the door for her and watching her go grab her jacket before leaving.

Gently shutting the door, latching the chain lock, and turning the deadbolt, he turned around to take in his surroundings. Taking a deep breath, Steve knew that things had changed, but he wasn't sure what was going to happen now.


	6. Nov 2009 - Feb 2010

**A/N:** **Special Boys Valentine's Day.**

 **Possible triggers for anxiety attacks/PTSD.**

 **Thank you to everyone! Here's a longer chapter, with cuteness galore. Since it's Valentine's Day, I've stuck Tony and Steve together, with Peter, with Peter being adorable. Also, in the next starts, I start messing with the canon (even more) of the Marvel Movies, specifically Iron Man 2 and Avengers. It's gonna get fun.**

 **There is a slight description of an anxiety attack below, and I wrote it while starting to experience my own. I really relate to my characters. :)**

 **Everyone is amazing, I keep doing this for you guys! Marvel owns more than I do in this story.**

 **As per usual, unbeat'd.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**

* * *

The first thing Steve had done after Mary left was search the apartment for bugs, or any type of listening device, or camera. When he didn't find anything, although he found a lot of stuff that he was going to ask Mary about, he felt a little better. He looked inside the icebox to see that it was actually empty, and decided that he would have to make a list of groceries. He found some paper and a pen in the study, and took it out to the dining room table, wanting to be closer to the front door. Steve pulled out a separate piece of paper to write out questions that he had as well, such as if groceries were still rationed out with stamps. It was clear that there was a freedom with money again, judging by the car that Mary drove; it seemed very luxurious.

After making a list of groceries, Steve went to put the notebook back into the study and he stared at the files sitting on the desk. Was he ready to look at them? Was he ready to find out what had happened to his friends, to those he cared about? The loss of Bucky still felt fresh to him, and he had to wonder if he was willing to add on to that.

Steve decided that the files could wait. He assumed that if Howard, or Peggy, weren't there to greet him as he woke up, then the information of what had happened could wait for another day. What he could go look at was the shield that rested in his bedroom. Mary was right, it was going to take some time. And for right now, he wanted to try and be just Steve Rogers. Not Captain America, or even Captain Rogers. Steve Rogers needed to deal with what he was walking in to in this future time, then the military man could come back out.

Steve was looking through some records when he heard a couple voices in the hallway a couple hours later. He walked over to the door, found the peephole in the door, and gave it an experimental look. He was a little shocked at the distorted view, but he could see Mary going over to her door, a little boy next to her, a backpack on his back, talking excitedly.

"-Daddy said that he could do it. Miss Pepper wasn't happy, but she wasn't mad at him." Mary pushed the door open, ruffling the little boys hair and they disappeared inside. Knowing that it would only be a few minutes until Mary came over, Steve grabbed his shoes, and the keychain that had the keys to this apartment on them. He had changed into a plain white t-shirt, underneath a blue sweater, the sleeves pushed up, but he had kept his khaki pants on. Steve decided that still going over there would still be a good idea, besides if he was going to be spending time with Mary, it wouldn't be a bad idea to meet her son. Steve had always had an affinity for children, hoping to have some when he was older.

As Steve was finishing lacing his shoes, tying them, there was a knock on the door. He unlocked the door and pulled it open, and saw Mary standing there, a little boy next to her leg. When he looked up and saw Steve, who was much taller than his mother, his hugged Mary's leg.

"Mama," the little boy whispered. "Mama, he's tall, but he looks nice."

"This is Steve, Peter, he's our new neighbor," Mary said to the boy, her hand resting on top of Peter's head. "What do you say when we meet new people?"

"He's not a stranger?" Peter asked, looking at his mom, then back at Steve.

"Nope," Mary shook her head. "He's Mama's work friend, so not a stranger." Steve was glad to hear that this boy knew not to trust strangers, at least not without an adult around.

"Hi," the boy said a little shyly. "My name is Peter, it's nice to meet you."

Steve crouched down, bending his knees, so that he was eye level with Peter, and put out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Peter." Steve smiled at the boy, and he got a little smile back, Peter sticking his hand out without hesitation, and shaking Steve's hand, waving it up and down with chuckled, and that caused Peter to giggle, knowing that his action was silly.

Mary leaned down, whispering something into Peter's ear, and he suddenly grinned. "Mama says that we're going to have dessert now, and that you're invited to come have some with us." Steve smiled at him and nodded. "Yay! Mama!" Peter looked back up at Mary. "He said yes! Can we go have ice cream now?"

Mary laughed at his enthusiasm. "Why don't you go on inside and wash up, and change out of your play clothes. When you come back out, I'll have a bowl all ready for you, okay?" Peter was already off, running back to their apartment before Mary was even done talking.

"You were right," Steve said as he stood back up, and Mary looked over at him. "His Dad had promised dessert." Mary chuckled and nodded and the two headed over to her apartment. "Does he regularly do that? Promise dessert?"

"When Peter eats dinner with him, yes," Mary said as she nodded. "They don't get to eat dinner together that often, specially now that Peter has started school." Mary closed the door, locking the deadbolt and Steve followed her into the kitchen to help. He saw a few containers that must have had the promised food in them too. "He picks up Peter from school when work will keep me over, and it really helps me out."

Mary pulled out two dishes, took the containers, and started dishing out the food. Steve could smell the pasta sauce as soon as she took the lid off, and watched her scoop some pasta on each plate, followed by some meat that looked like sliced chicken, then the sauce over top. Reaching in the fridge she grabbed some shredded cheese, and Steve marveled at the plastic bag a little. The food smelled good, so he trusted her judgement as she spread cheese over the second plate.

"Peter doesn't get to see his Dad that often?" Steve couldn't help the curiosity flowing through him, and apparently, out of his mouth in the form of words.

"He gets very busy sometimes, but he always tries to make time for Peter," Mary said as she put one of the plates in a rectangular box. She pressed a couple of buttons, and it started to hum, and turn the plate in a slow circle. "He's very high up in his company. After Peter was born, it took some juggling, but we managed to work out some sort of schedule." Steve couldn't help but wrinkle his nose a little. Mary pulled out a bowl, and went over to her own icebox, that he found out was just called a freezer, or a refrigerator now, and pulled out a carton of ice cream.

Peter's Dad was sounding more and more like an absent father, and he wondered how Mary could be okay with this. Peter needed a constant male role model in his life, along with his mother. Steve had had Bucky's Dad, and Bucky himself to a point, and he was convinced that it had helped. He didn't want to see Peter slip down the slippery slope of becoming a bully, or becoming a lost, or rebellious teen. From their short meeting, he knew that Peter had potential to be anything.

Mary looked over at him and seemed to see what he was thinking. "I know that look, mister. I see it all the time on my mothers face. Tony is a fine father as he is." Now Steve had a name to put with the name, but not a face. Yet. "We all used to live in California, and he came over to New York when I got transferred to make things easier. He loves Peter, and I'm just fine with his level of involvement."

"I don't mean to make judgments," Steve quickly said, not wanting to make her upset, or offend her.

"I know," she said. "Things are different now when it comes to parenting. Both good, and bad, but I make do. I'm luckier than most other women, or men, for that matter though." There were three beeps and Steve turned to look at the box that Mary had put the food in. She opened it, grabbing a towel that hung on the rail of the oven, and pulled the plate out, putting the second plate in.

Before Steve could ask anymore questions though, Peter came into the kitchen, dressed in his pajamas, and stood next to Mary, watching her. He clearly remembered that she had promised ice cream, but he wasn't demanding, and waited patiently for his treat.

"Ahp ahp," she pat his butt and he giggled. "At the table mister." Peter smiled and shuffled out of the kitchen, over to the chair that had a booster seat on it, climbing up. "What can I get you to drink?" Mary asked, looking at Steve. "We have various juices, water, or milk."

"Milk will be just fine, ma'am," Steve said, giving her a smile.

"It's Mary," she reminded, pulling out two glasses and setting them on the counter, then pulled open a drawer to pull out a couple sets of silverware.

"Let me help." Steve jumped into action, scooping up the silverware in one hand, and pausing a bit before taking the bowl of ice cream, waiting for the slight nod from Mary, saying that he could give the little boy his treat.

Walking out into the dining room, he put the bowl down in front of Peter, who grinned widely, and accepted the spoon form Steve. "Thank you!" He said without prompting, and Steve smiled at that.

"You're welcome." Steve set the silverware down at the spot next to Peter, and then on the other side of the table. Mary came out with the two plates of food, setting them down, and Steve went back in to grab their drinks. Steve sat down, putting the glass of water in front of Mary, the milk at his place.

"Mama?" Peter asked, after swallowing his first bite of ice cream. "Can I stay with Daddy this weekend?"

"You want to spend the night?" Mary asked, and the little boy nodded. "Did you ask Daddy?"

"Yup!" He smiled. "He said I had to ask you first." Steve couldn't get a clear image of this man in his mind. He wasn't around that often, but he never went over Mary's head as a parent.

"If you get all your homework done before bedtime tomorrow, then I think that you can have a sleepover with Daddy." Peter whooped and Steve couldn't help but chuckle with Mary.

"Thank you, Mama!" Peter smiled, then looked over at Steve. "My Daddy makes robots, and he said he'd teach me how to make them too! He's really smart, and he says I'm gonna be really smart, just like him."

"You seem pretty smart to me," Steve told him with a smile. "And I just met you today."

"My teacher says that I'm really good at math, but that's because my Daddy has been helping me with my numbers," Peter continued to ramble on, eating bites of ice cream in between punctuation marks. "I can already count to a hundred. Daddy says that if I can do that, then all the other numbers are just as easy."

Mary smiled as Peter went on, eating her dinner, and Steve remembered that he had his own plate in front of him. He cut some of the chicken, and scooped up some pasta and sauce with it. There was a little moan when he started to chew, and Mary smirked a bit.

"Good food?" She asked, taking another bite.

"Daddy makes the best pasta!" Peter exclaimed happily. "He says it's cause his Mama was, um, tally-on."

"Italian," Mary said, helping Peter.

"Yeah! Means she was born in Italy." Peter nodded, continuing again. Steve kept eating as Peter explained. "Daddy really can't cook anything else that good, at least not without help from Mommy, Uncle James, or Jarvis." The little boy took another bite of ice cream, the bowl almost empty. "Sometimes Jarvis has Dummy come up," the little boy giggled, like he had just told a joke.

Steve glanced at Mary, raising an eyebrow. "Dummy is the first robot that Tony built, and he often wields a fire extinguisher," Mary explained to him, like it made complete sense. Steve blinked, but turned his attention back to Peter. The little boy talked about robots, and his Daddy, until he was practically falling asleep at the table. Steve bid him goodnight as Mary picked him up, going to wash his face from ice cream, then tuck him in.

Steve couldn't help but get up and start washing the dishes as she was gone with Peter, but he kept thinking about the enigma that was Peter's father. He wondered if he'd ever meet the man. The picture from Peter's birthday had been taken on the couch that was in Mary's living room, he could tell, but he wondered if that had just been because of the occasion. A small part of Steve was glad for the distraction, it kept him from thinking too much on how much had changed, and how much was going to continue to change in his life.

* * *

 **January 2010**

Steve wrote down a few more notes in his notebook, browsing through another website, stopping when there was a knock at his front door. He was sitting at the dining room table, papers spread out, pens, highlighters, and sticky notes sitting around the laptop, as he studied his latest future topic. He slid the chair out and went over, looking out the peephole, but didn't see anything. There was another knock, and Steve smiled, before opening the door.

"Hi, Mr Steve!" Peter smiled up at him, short enough to avoid the view of the peephole, and the little mischief maker knew it.

"Hi, Peter," Steve said, stepping aside for him to walk in. "How are you today?" Steve looked over and waved to Mary, who was standing in her own doorway, watching her son go over. She smiled and waved back, mouthing 'Thank you' to him as Peter walked in. She looked dressed for work, and looking a little frazzled. It was supposed to be her day off from any office work, but she must have been called in.

"I'm okay," Peter said, setting his backpack down by the empty dining room chair next to the one that Steve had been sitting in. Steve closed the door and went back over to the table. He grabbed the booster seat that Mary had gotten for Peter just for his place, and placed it on the chair as Peter pulled out his school book, sketchbook, and pencil case. "Mom said that if I got my weekend homework done before she got back from work, then she would get me some new colored pencils tomorrow." Peter grinned as he climbed up into the seat, Steve taking his own seat again.

"Your collection is getting pretty big now, isn't it?" Steve smiled at the boy. Peter had been over the moon when he found out that Steve had liked to draw as well, and he had been helping the young boy with some tips. He was surprisingly good for a five-year-old.

"Yup!" Peter pulled out his school pencil, and opened his school notebook. "I have thirty-seven colored pencils now." Peter took care pronouncing the big number. "Daddy said that if I keep my collection growing, and if I do well in Art lessons, then he'll make me my own coloring room at his house!" The little boy was almost bouncing in his seat at the prospect.

Steve still hadn't met the mysterious Tony, but he thought he caught glimpses of him leaving Mary's apartment at night, after dropping Peter off. The man was usually wearing a hat and some sunglasses, always casually dressed. It was easy to tell the difference between him and Mary's boyfriend, Phil. They worked together, and Steve was only a little concerned about inter-office romances. Phil told him that he was the one who had made Mary Steve's Handler, (after asking him to sign his prized collection of Captain America trading cards). He said that it didn't put them in contact all the time, and so it would be harder for work to get between their personal relationship. Steve wouldn't say anything, because he could clearly see that it was working, and the two were able to keep work and life separate.

There was one knock at the door, before it opened, Mary walking in. Her hair was pulled back, and she looked a little less frazzled. She had Peter's bag with extra clothes, and Steve assumed his art stuff as well. "Thank you so much, Steve," Mary said as she kissed the top of Peter's head. "I couldn't get a hold of Tony, and they need both Phil and me down at SHIELD."

"Don't worry about it, Mary," Steve smiled at her. It had taken a bit, but she had finally gotten Steve to stop saying ma'am so often to her. "Peter and I always have fun, don't we buddy?"

"Yeah!" Peter smiled, looking up from his homework. "Mr Steve teaches me all about drawing."

"I'm so glad that you have fun, baby." Mary smiled at Peter. "You know the rules, be good for Mr Steve, do what he says. You both have our numbers, and I will call you later, alright?"

"I know, Mama," Peter rolled his eyes a little, but leaned up to kiss his Mama goodbye. "Go save the world!" Mary chuckled every time he said, and hugged him before slipping her jacket on.

"We got this," Steve said, adding a little bit of modern slang into his accent, and Mary raised an amused eyebrow before leave the apartment. He heard her lock the door from the outside, and he turned back to his laptop, watching Peter out of the corner of his eyes do his homework.

* * *

Tony took a deep breath, resting his head against the cool tile of his bathroom floor. Jarvis had dropped the temperature for him, and a little shiver slipped down his spine. He hadn't had a hangover in nearly five months, and he was starting to remember why. It wasn't just the fact that Mary had caught him in the aftermath of a hangover after a particularly long Iron Man mission, and the fact that her eyes, full of disappointment haunted him- Actually, that was most of the reason. He hadn't been allowed to see, or even speak to Peter, for three days after that, and only after she made him breath into a breathalyzer. He couldn't blame her, but it had shamed him a bit more than he thought it would.

But, the way Tony was feeling, the empty feeling in his stomach, the pounding in his head, the shaking in his hands, it wasn't alcohol induced. He hadn't had anything to drink last night, or even the night before. He'd had a lot of coffee that morning, working down in the workshop, but he was pretty sure that wasn't what had sent him careening for the toilet.

Taking a couple more deep breaths, he felt ready to open his eyes, and start to push himself up. "Jarvis," he mumbled out, mouth feeling sticky, and just overall disgusting. "Scan." He got the one word command out and pulled himself up, slowly, and over to the sink so he could brush his teeth.

As he spit out the last of the toothpaste he heard his AI pipe up. "I would recommend a blood test, Sir." Tony frowned a little at the suggestion. "With my limited scanning, I can find no foreign substances that would cause you to be sick."

Tony groaned a little, but nodded, slowly, carefully, heading down to the workshop. Ever since coming up to New York he had put a lot of time into updating the old workshop. He basically replaced everything that Howard had, and tried to make it look almost like the Malibu workshop.

"You also have two missed calls from Miss Parker," Jarvis told him after Tony had started a blood sample into the system. "She informed that nothing was wrong Young Master," his AI quickly continued before Tony could panic. "She had been called into work unexpectedly."

"I would have taken Peter," Tony grumped a little, knowing that he had probably missed his chance, and that Peter was already over at the new neighbor's place; Steve. He hadn't met Steve, but he heard about him all the time from Peter. Something about that just didn't sit right with Tony. He of course knew what it was, but he would rather take a repulsor to the gut before he named the feeling for what it was; Jealousy.

"I know you would have, Sir," Jarvis said almost sympathetically. "But, I thought that it might not be the best idea, considering at the time you were currently invested with the inside of your toilet." Tony wrinkled his nose. "And should you have some sort of virus, you would not want to give it to Young Master Peter." Tony grumbled a little, knowing that Jarvis was right. "Miss Parker has informed me that Peter is currently in the capable supervision of the neighbor." Tony refused to let Jarvis address Steve by any name, other than 'the neighbor.'

"I'll make it up to her," Tony said, leaning against the desk gently, feeling his stomach roll gently. "I'll take Peter for Valentine's Day, so she and Agent can have a nice night, or whatever he might have planned."

"Are you assuming that you won't have plans yourself, Sir?" Jarvis asked after a second.

"Having a second date doesn't mean that I'm ready to jump into that trap," Tony grumbled, resting his head on his arms. Tony knew for a fact that he hadn't had anything to drink last night for the pure fact that he had been very conscious what he had to drink. When he was out on his first date in many, many years. He'd never admit it out loud, but he had been nervous. Tony had met the man coming out of Mary's apartment building, catching a rare moment when Tony had his hat off, and had been cleaning his sunglasses from Peter's fingerprints. The blonde hadn't said anything about his identity, just give him a little smirk, before stepping forward to introduce himself as George.

After last night, George had agreed to a second date with Tony for next week. It was weird, because Tony hadn't even gone back to his place afterwards, there was no make out session, and he wasn't drunk. If this was how normal people dated, Tony had a lot to get used too.

"And anyway, I have plans now for Valentine's Day. Are those test results done yet, Jarvis?" Tony wanted to change the subject now. "My stomach is protesting again."

"Preliminary results show that there is nothing wrong," Jarvis informed him. "I would suggest something for nausea, but I will continue to monitor your condition, Sir."

"You're the best, J," Tony said from his spot. "I think I'm gonna stay in my bed for a bit. Just as soon as I get up."

* * *

Steve was sitting on the couch in Mary's apartment now, a book in his hands, peter asleep in his bed. Mary said she was on her way back home, and told Steve not to worry about anything but making sure that Peter was asleep in bed. At the same time that he heard Mary's key jingling in the lock, her tablet on the coffee table lit up. Steve closed his book, frowning, and looked at it as Mary walked in.

"Miss Parker," Steve jumped a little at the british accent that came from the tablet, "I do apologize for interrupting, but I find it most urgent." Steve looked up at Mary who looked almost as surprised as he felt. She walked over and took the tablet from the table, giving an apologetic look to Steve, and set her bag by the closet.

"What's going on Jarvis?" She asked as she started to slip her jacket off. Steve recognized that name as one that Peter often talked about. It was one his Daddy's robots.

"I do believe that Sir is having a panic attack, and regrettably I am unable to help him." Steve raised his eyebrows a little.

"Where is he now Jarvis?" Mary stayed over by the door, the furthest spot away from Peter's room.

"I've currently managed to contain him inside of his room, but I'm sure that he'll be out in mere moments once he realizes the doors are locked." Steve wondered about this Jarvis actually being a robot.

"Put me through, Jarvis," Mary said softly. Steve watched her, wondering how often she had actually had to deal with this problem. "Tony?" She asked once there the sound of something else, sounding like drawers opening and closing. There was a grunt of surprise. "Hey, Tony, you there?"

"Mary?" Steve thought that maybe he could put a voice to this mysterious Tony, but the voice that he heard was shaken, sounding vulnerable.

Tony jumped when he heard Mary's voice coming from the ceiling. He was looking through his dresser, but he wasn't sure for what. "Yeah, it's me. Jarvis called me." Jarvis, he could trust Jarvis for everything. Which Jarvis had called her though. "You're AI, Tony." He must have said that out loud. "What are you doing right now?"

"I'm, looking for something." Tony stopped and closed the drawer he was looking through, fingers coming up to tap out a rhythm on his arc reactor. What was he looking for? "It's too hot in here, too hot." He tried to take a deep breath, but it felt like his lungs weren't expanding enough.

"What were you doing before you started looking?" Mary's voice was always so calm, so nice.

Tony frowned, trying to think about what he was doing, what had made him start looking. "Sleeping, I think I was sleeping." He closed his eyes, trying to remember, and then the nightmares came rushing back to him, what woke him up. He gasped and stumbled backwards, back hitting the same dresser and knocking over a couple picture frames, and a small box that held different cuff links.

"Sand, there's so much sand," his whispered, sliding down to sit on the ground. "It's so dirty, not like the shop, I can't work here. Peter, I need to, Peter, he's okay? He's okay, he's with you, he's safe, right?"

"Peter is safe." Tony's head jerked up at the new voice, a male voice, one he had never heard before.

Mary looked over at Steve when he had gotten up and walked over to her and the tablet. He had heard the man start to lose himself, something that Steve had heard many times before from soldiers in the war. Tony was having a flashback, suffering from PTSD. Steve could relate with his nightmares of losing Bucky, at the very least.

"Did he serve?" Steve whispered to Mary. Peter had never mentioned it, but he needed to know something on how to proceed.

Mary shook her head. "He did travel to Afghanistan several years ago," Mary whispered back quickly. "Something did happen over there." She wasn't sure how much to tell him, it was Tony's experience to tell. Steve just nodded, he could work with that.

"Tony, are your eyes open?" Steve asked, turning back towards the tablet.

"Who are you? Are you with Mary?" There was a guarded tone to his voice now, and Steve proceeded carefully.

"I'm a friend of Mary's," Steve, looking over at her.

"It's true, Tony. I'm still here, he's a friend." Steve nodded when she spoke. They needed him to not worry about who Steve was at the moment.

"Can you tell me where you are, Tony?" They needed to get him out of his head, away from the flashbacks.

The mans voice was easy on the ears, soothing, in a way that was different from Mary's. Mary had a soothing parent voice, but this man, it felt more personal than that. His tone was soft, but it wanted answers as well. "I'm,..." Tony looked around, and he saw the bed, saw the light coming from the bathroom. His bedroom. "Yes, I'm in my bedroom."

"Alright, that's good," Steve nodded. "Do you know what state you're in?"

State, right, location. This bedroom was different, it wasn't nearly as familiar. "New York, I'm in the New York house."

"Can you count with me, Tony?" Tony frowned at the voice. "Can you count backwards from fifty with me?"

"You want me to what? Counting? What's counting going to-"

"Fifty." The voice said, cutting Tony. "Fifty," he tried again when Tony didn't respond. Tony wriggled his nose and started to count backwards. He closed his eyes, and by the time that he got to single digits he realized that he could breathe again, that his chest didn't feel as tight.

"Good job, Tony," the male voice said again, and Tony felt a little bit of pride bubble in his chest. "Peter is in bed, he's sleeping. Mary has gong to go take a picture, and she's going to text it to you, okay?"

Peter, his son, his little boy. Tony sat up suddenly, moving to his feet. Where was- he heard the ringtone of his phone and snatched it up off the floor. The picture loaded almost instantly, and he let out a breath. Peter was asleep in his bed, face peaceful, on his side, hair a mess of loose curls.

"Does that help?" The voice was there again, and he nodded, not caring at first that he couldn't be seen.

"Yeah." Tony sat down on the edge of his bed. Now that he was coming down, knew where he was, his face flushed hot. A stranger had just talked him through a panic attack. He let out a little moan and dropped his head to his hand.

"Tony? Are you alright?" Yup, he was still there, still listening.

"Tony?" Oh great, and there was Mary.

"I'm fine!" He may have said it a little too loudly, but he could feel the embarrassment rolling through him. "Much better, thanks for the talk, I'm just gonna go now and work downstairs, good night!" He made a motion, hoping that Jarvis would know to hang up.

"Tony?" Mary blinked when the line was cut. "Jarvis?"

"I'm sorry, but Sir cut communications." The accented voice answered Mary and Steve looked at her again. "He seems to be much better, his heart rate is back to normal, and his brain activity has settled considerably. I thank you Miss Parker, and..."

Steve blinked, realizing that the voice was asking for his name. "Um, Steve, I'm Steve."

"Thank you very kindly, for helping Sir." The tablet screen went dark and Steve felt kind of lost.

"Well, that was new," Mary murmured, and Steve was glad that it wasn't just him. They looked at each other for a moment. "I'm sorry that-"

"No need to apologize," Steve said before she could try. "As long as you're positive that he's going to be alright."

"I trust Jarvis' judgement," Mary nodded.

"Doesn't seem like the first panic attack that you've encountered." Steve took Mary's jacket, putting in the closet for her as she put the tablet down by the couch.

"Tony doesn't like to admit that he sometimes needs help," Mary said softly. "He's," and she hesitated. Steve could kind of understand, it wasn't her story to tell. "Tony is complicated, to say the least." Steve just hummed softly, nodding. He still wanted to meet the man, he felt like he needed to now. What was this Tony really like? To Peter he was Daddy, near about a superhero to him; to Mary he was a co-parent, and friend. But to Steve, he was someone who was trying to do right, but could probably be doing more. Peter and Mary deserved the best, and if Steve had to knock some sense into this Tony, to accept help, and to reach his full potential, then he would.

* * *

 **February 2010**

Steve would have to wait another two weeks or so before he was able to get a shot at meeting Tony. Tony scowled at his phone when he saw the text from Mary, saying that Peter would be over at Steve's, and that Coulson had picked her up early. Tony couldn't get away from a meeting with the Board, not if he wanted to get his project off the ground this month. He had a plan, and he wanted it to open this year, and Tony Stark doesn't like to settle for second best.

Steve watched Peter as he showed him how to make a folder on the desktop for all his images that he kept downloading. Steve tried not to think about how a five-year-old was showing how to use a computer. There was a knock at the door, and Steve got up, ruffling Peter's hair, and went over, looking through the peephole. He blinked seeing a man with a familiar Captain America ball cap a goatee, and sunglasses on. Tony.

Steve opened the door and the two men looked at each other for a moment, before Steve moved to let the shorter man in. "You must be-"

"Daddy!" Peter was already up and running over to Tony. Tony 'oomphed' and laughed, catching Peter and lifting him up.

"Man, you just keep growing, kid!" Tony blew a raspberry on Peter's cheek before setting him down on his feet. "I swear, you're bigger than last time I saw you."

"You just saw me last week," Peter giggled, grinning up at him. "Daddy, if Mama says it's okay, can we stay at my place?"

Tony tilted his head a little. "You don't wanna spend the weekend at my place?"

"There's s'posed ta be a storm coming," Peter said to him, taking Tony's hand. "Loooots of snow!" Steve carefully held a breath, releasing it slowly at the mention of the snow. Tony hummed, rubbing at his beard a little with his fingers.

"So you want to stay here, huh?" Tony did Not want to stay here, but he had been having nightmares on and off back at the Manor. After his panic attack he hadn't actually gotten a real nights sleep, spending more and more time down in the workshop. There had been the nightmares of the desert, of the cave, and then eventually came the nightmares from his childhood. "Well, we have to ask Mama if it's alright." Peter squealed a little as Tony pulled out his phone.

Steve looked at the phone, seeing a logo on the back of it, and tilted his head. He swore he had seen that logo before in passing while browsing online, but didn't really think about it too much. There was a possibility that Tony would be just across the hall now.

Peter put his hands up, asking silently if he could ask Mary about the sleeping arrangements, and Tony put the phone in his hand after tapping a few times and Steve could hear the phone ringing. Peter started to hop around a little with the phone pressed up to his ear, and Steve looked back over at Tony. Tony caught Steve's eye, and Steve could tell that he wasn't going to back down first. This was not the same man that he had talked to over the phone, (was it the phone, it was technically the tablet), he could tell by the eyes that this man remembered that night, and he wasn't about to bring it up. Steve would have too.

"You must be the neighbor," Tony said when he saw that Steve was about to open his mouth, almost like he wanted to beat him to speaking. "I'm Peter's Dad, Tony."

"We've actually spoken." Steve saw the confusion on Tony's face for a second. "A couple of weeks ago." There was the recognition, and a wave of emotions passed through Tony's eyes in the matter of a second. "How are you-"

"I'm fine, so you just moved in here a couple of months again, then?" Tony said quickly, and Steve thought he would get whiplash from how quickly Tony changed topics and moods "Work with Mary at SHIELD then?" Tony looked around the apartment, assessing it? "Peter talks about you all the time, so Mary must trust you at least a little bit, but I find that I don't know that much about except from what Peter says. And I love my son very much, but he's five, and I can't exactly take everything that he says as gospel, not that I really take anything as gospel, but that's a whole different problem."

Steve blinked, staring at Tony. He didn't know that a human could actually talk that fast. He was surprised that he was even able to keep up with everything that he said, even with the Serum. "I'm usually here?" This Tony was naturally charming, and disarming, and hostile, all at the same time. This wouldn't stop Steve though, not from learning more about this man. Was this really the same man that he had talked through a panic attack?

"Fantastic, so you don't actually work with Mary?" Tony looked back at him, not taking off the sunglasses though. "Do you actually work, if you're here? And you're able to watch Peter with such short notice? Thanks for picking him up from school, though. When I can't do it I'm usually stuck in a board meeting. Did Mary tell you what I do?" Steve was barely able to finish nodding before Tony was continuing. "I'm trying to get a big project into the works, and fast. I want it done this year, and I've got a lot of work to do on it still. Work actually needs to start as soon as the snow is gone, not that snow stays long on the streets of New York."

"Do you often talk this fast?" Steve couldn't help the question that blurted out when Tony actually took a breath after talking. He swore he saw a little glare, but a little bit of a smirk on his face. "I'm sorry, but I just felt out of breath as you were talking." They both looked over as Peter made a little noise while talking to Mary, then went back to looking at each other. "I don't work with Mary at the office, no," Steve told him, watching Tony's eyebrow raise just a tiny bit, "but I do know her from SHIELD, yes." Tony hummed a little, nodding.

"She wants to talk to you, Daddy." Peter ran back over to them, and Tony wrapped his arm around his waist to stop him from sliding across the floor. Tony took the phone back from Peter, and Peter bounced back over to Steve's laptop, Steve turning to watch him briefly. Tony eyed the motion, completely not jealous though.

"You're not happy with this," Mary said as soon as he put the phone to his ear.

"I'm not happy with you," Tony said quietly, nodding a little, turning his back to Steve and Peter, so that at least Peter didn't hear anything more than mumbling. "And why didn't you tell me that this was the one who was there during the Incident."

"You didn't ask." Mary didn't sound apologetic at all, this offended Tony's ego. "Steve is perfectly happy to babysit, he doesn't mind."

"Yeah, I don't care about that," Tony grumbled.

"So, I don't care if Peter wants to stay home for the weekend, but I don't know what your plans are," Mary changed the subject, and Tony swore he heard the little laugh she was trying to keep silent.

"My plans are to spend the weekend with my son," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "I had the last board meeting until next week, and I've cleared my schedule with Pepper, specifically for this weekend." Like he said he would, giving Mary and Coulson a worry free holiday.

"I think I have an idea of why Peter wants to stay home, though," Mary said, a hint of mischief in her voice. Tony hummed, acting all put upon, but he wasn't as bothered as he wanted them to think. The only thing he wasn't happy about was being in 'the neighbor's' apartment, where his son was apparently staying.

"It's not like I can't stop back over to my place to get some clothes." Tony's nose wrinkled a little, Peter really wanted to stay here, and apparently there was a reason, and going back over to the mansion wasn't like it was required. He could take Peter with him when he got his stuff, and they could say hi to Dummy, Butterfingers, and U, then. Those three bots honestly adored his little boy, and that always warmed his heart. Tony would just have to be careful, to always have his hat and sunglasses by the door, just in case. Not that he really planned on seeing anyone while they were there.

"And Steve will be there the whole weekend as well, in case you need anything," Mary had kept talking while Tony's mind had kept working.

"Great, won't need anything though," Tony said. "Because it's been over five years, I think I know how-"

"Tony, your jealousy is showing." Mary was enjoying this.

"I am Not-"

"You are, it's kind of cute. So, just send me a text with what you decide to do, and I will see you when I get back," Mary said, and Tony could hear Coulson in the background. "Have a good weekend, Tony!"

Tony's eye twitched a little as she hung up and he turned back around, now seeing that Steve was sitting next to Peter, by the laptop, the little boy explaining something to him. Tony took a breath, and steeled himself for the interaction that he was going to have. It was for Peter, this was always for Peter. He wasn't jealous, nope.

Tony walked over, sitting on the other side of Peter, and saw that Peter was explaining how to use icons on the desktop, and moving them to the task bar for shortcuts. The neighbor didn't know how to use a computer? As soon as Tony sat down though, Peter's hopeful brown eyes turned to him.

"Yeah, we can stay- ack." Tony was pushed back into the couch when Peter landed in his lap, arms around his neck in a hug suddenly. He swore he heard a little chuckled from The Neighbor. "But I have to run home at some point to get my clothes, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy!" Peter grinned at him, which meant that Tony had to smile. Peter's smile more infectious than the common cold. Tony always thought that Peter's smile looked more like Mary's than his own. "Now, we should probably get back over to your place, and leave your neighbor here to his own day. I'm sure he has his own plans today."

"Nope," Peter shook his head, getting down from Tony's lap, though. "He said he's going to be here all weekend."

"Why don't you go get your bookbag, Peter," Steve said before the boy said anything more. Of course, Steve knew what day it was, that's why Mary and Coulson would be gone. He was a little surprised that Tony had volunteered to watch Peter; he would have thought that the man would have his own plans.

"I find it hard to believe that nothing is happening for you, today," Tony said to him as Peter ran off. Oh, Tony may not be his biggest fan, but he could see that The Neighbor was incredibly handsome. Those blue eyes captured you first, he could see them even through his dark sunglasses, and his hair was immaculate. Tony longed to rough it up with- Tony slapped his consciousness. Now was not the time to think about this handsome man, that he would rather have in his bed than his former dating possibility.

"Why's that?" Steve wasn't sure if Tony was being serious, or insulting to him.

"No one catch your eye? No one's asked you out for today? Because I know a few dozen people who'd want to take you out on Valentine's Day." Tony wouldn't mention that he might have been one of them. You know, if he wasn't taking care of his son when Tony was still capable. Not. Jealous.

Steve watched Tony for a second, Peter coming back out with his stuff. He longed to see Tony's eyes, and the rest of his face really. You can only put together so much of a person from just seeing their chin. The eyes held so much, expression and emotions, they betrayed what others wanted to put on for the rest of the world. And Steve didn't like that he didn't know this man. Maybe it was because Steve had grown rather attached to Peter in the past few months, and wanted to make sure that the little boy stayed happy, and safe.

"Bye, Mr Steve!" Peter smiled, hugging him around the waist.

"Bye, Peter," Steve said, rubbing his back a little. "You know where I am, any time." Peter nodded and took Tony's hand. "It was nice to meet you, Tony." Steve also didn't like that he didn't know Tony's last name, but Mary had said that he didn't want others to know, to keep Peter unknown from big buisness, or any cameras that might show up. Steve could see the sense in that as he learned about how bothersome cameras could be for anyone with any kind of importance in this new time. Tony was respecting both Mary and Peter's privacy, even if he was keeping them a secret from everyone else. Steve really just wanted to have a heart to heart with this man, to clear things up.

Tony gave him a two finger salute, touching the brim of the cap, and followed Peter out of the apartment, closing the door. Steve went over and watched through the peep hole as they went into Mary's apartment. Tony never took the hat off until he was out of view, and Steve blew out a breath.

Tony put his hat and sunglasses on the little table in the entryway, and he and Peter both took off their shoes. Tony could wait a few hours before he needed anything from the Manor. "Alright, little man," Tony said as Peter put his backpack by the closet. "Why'd you want to stay here?" He picked up Peter, making him squeal, and dropped on the couch, bringing Peter into his lap.

Peter wiggled a little in Tony's lap, burrowing a bit between Tony's arm and his side as his hand sought out the arc reactor. Tony was able to stop a shiver anytime that Peter touched it. Peter was the only one who could get away with touching it whenever they wanted. Tony waited patiently, noting that it usually didn't take his son this long to come out with what was on his mind.

"There's someone at school that I wanna give a valitine to," Peter said eventually, kind of quiet. Tony raised an eyebrow slightly. "Cause I got one, and it was really cool, and handmade. And I asked Mama, but she said that I should ask you for help."

"Oh?" Mary was trusting him to handle their sons first crush?! Was she crazy? "Why did she say that? Your Mama would know more than I would about Valentines."

"She said that you would know what to give a boy as a present." Oh. Oh, Peter's crush was another boy. Now Tony know why Mary was handing this off to him. "She said that you like boys, too."

"I do," Tony said nodding. "Alright, well, let's start with seeing what this other boy gave to you." Peter hopped up, running into his room. Tony thought she was still nuts for giving him this responsibility. He was also almost thirty years older than Peter was, and a very high functioning, low responsibility, adult. He yearned for a drink.

Peter came back out, holding onto a little paper box. It looked like origami. Peter carefully opened it and inside was a piece of paper with Peter's name printed on it in impeccable handwriting. Tony blinked. A bit elaborate for someone in second grade, but he could see why Peter wanted to do something for this kid.

"This is real nice, kiddo," Tony said as he looked at it. Peter put it down on the coffee table. "What's this boys name?"

"Wade," Peter said, smiling. Tony had heard this name before, heard it form both Peter and Mary, he was one of Peter's best friends in school. Tony remembered him from the time that Peter said he got in a fight with a kid who said that Peter was too short.

"So, tell me more about Wade," Tony said, pulling Peter back up into his lap as he moved to lay on the couch. Peter moved so that he was sitting on Tony's stomach, facing him, smiling. Peter loved to be close to Tony, and to cuddle in any way. Surprisingly, Tony didn't mind as much as he thought he would. Pepper, and sometimes Peter, was still the only one who could actually hand stuff to Tony without a very visible reaction.

"He likes to eat," Peter said, his hands going to find Tony's arc reactor out of habit. "Usually stuff like tacos, but he likes sweets, too. And he's really funny."

"Yeah? I remember some of the jokes that you told me," Tony said, smiling at him. Peter's fingers traced the circles of the arc reactor.

"He said that his Mama is sick, but his Daddy is in the military, like Uncle James." Peter continued. "But his Daddy isn't a fly boy like Uncle James." Tony nodded. What could a second grader do for another one?

"Does Wade live far away?" Peter shook his head when Tony asked, and Tony hummed, nodding. "How about we make something for Wade to eat? We'll them dinner, and then make Wade something sweet, like, maybe cupcakes?" Peter's eyes lit up and he smiled, nodding. "Yeah? You like that idea?"

"Yeah! Let's do that!" Peter was hopping a little, and Tony grunted silently as the air was pushed form his lungs. "He really likes chim-chimi-chimicha-"

"Chimichangas?" Tony guessed, and Peter nodded. Tony sat up quickly, throwing Peter off balance, and chuckled when he caught Peter with his legs making the little boy laugh. "Alright, let's ask Jarvis for a grocery list, some recipes, and get started! Do you have Wade's home phone number? I'll call his Mama, tell her not to make dinner, and to keep it a secret from Wade."

"Good idea!" Peter jumped up to go for the address book that Mary kept by the cordless phone. Tony was fairly certain they would just end up getting box mix for the cupcakes, but Jarvis would guide them safely. Jarvis knew how to keep Tony from burning down a kitchen,... Again.

* * *

Tony had never cooked a chimichanga in his life, but Jarvis assured him that it was something even he could do. He didn't trust his AI's assessment. He looked at the frosting selections that he and Peter had picked out; a lot of red, some black, white, and some blue. Apparently Wade really liked red and black, and Tony thought that he could make a red, white, and blue cupcake for Peter.

What Tony knew for sure was that there was going to be way too much sugar going into Peter and Wade's little bodies, and he was going to regret this come bedtime. Tony was trying to frost the cupcakes as Peter tried write Wade's name on a card with Jarvis's help. That's when he caught a whiff of something burning. Tony whipped around towards the stove and saw a bit of smoke trying to escape from the oven. The second batch of cupcakes were not going to make it.

He grabbed a hot pad and opened the oven door to pull out the ruined cupcakes, then froze when he saw the smoke rising up to the ceiling, approaching the smoke detector. Oh, that was something he didn't need to explain to Mary. Tony hurried over, vaulting up and over the island, and using the height to grab at the cover of the smoke detector as it started to beep, and ripped the battery out, almost tearing it off the wall.

"Daddy?" Peter called out from the dining room table, looking in. Tony landed on the ground and looked over, giving him a smile.

"You remember when Daddy said it would be a good idea to buy a few boxes of cupcake mix?" Peter nodded. "This is why. Everything's alright, but we should probably, most definitely, open some windows."

Peter hopped down him booster seat and went to start opening the windows int he living room at the same time that there was a knock on the front door. Tony groaned and hurried over, grabbing his hat and sunglasses, before opening it. He blinked when he saw Steve standing there.

"Is everything alright?" Steve looked at him, then looked around Tony, being a couple inches taller than him. "I thought I smelled something-"

"I burned some cupcakes, nothing to worry about," Tony said quickly.

"Hi, Mr Steve!" Peter said as he came over, having opened all the windows. Tony could tell cause there was a slight chill coming inside from the cold weather outside. "Daddy burned some of the cupcakes." Tony's expression deadpanned, but Steve wouldn't see it because of the sunglasses. "But, it's alright, because we bought a couple extra boxes."

"You're using boxed mix?" Steve asked Peter, who nodded. "What about making some fresh ones?"

"Jarvis says that Daddy can't bake," Peter said like it didn't mean a thing. Tony willed his cheeks not to turn red.

"I could always help you," Steve offered and Peter grinned. Tony opened the door a little for Steve, the silent invitation. "Why are you making cupcakes?"

"We're making a valitine dinner for my friend," Peter told him, turning a little shy. "He gave me a valitine at school, and I wanted to give him one back. Mama said that Daddy could help me this weekend, cause he likes boys, too"

Tony squeaked his protest a little when Peter just kept on talking to Steve, casually mentioning Tony's sexuality. He couldn't blame the boy, it wasn't something that he would actually understand at the age of five, but Steve would.

Steve blinked a little as he followed Peter to the kitchen. His thoughts about Tony possibly being gay were put aside when he saw the state of the kitchen. It was obvious that Tony didn't do a lot of cooking, with too many dishes out, burned cupcakes on the stove, and different frosting tubes out. Steve was pretty sure he could salvage this. Even when he was small and sickly, he could still cook while his Mother worked.

"The chimichangas are safe." Steve turned when heard Tony step into the kitchen. "The actual dinner part, that's safe and not burned.

"Then it shouldn't take too long for the cupcakes." Steve went over to Mary's pantry, and started pulling out the baking supplies, and he was vaguely aware of Tony starting to clear up counter space.

Was Tony happy with this new turn of events? Hell, no. He didn't want anyone else here, specially the Neighbor, seeing his failings at making cupcakes, but now he was going to steal the thunder of cupcakes, and Peter couldn't be happier about it. Steve absolutely was not going to go with them over to Wade's though. That's where Tony drew the line in this particular moment.

Tony started to wash all the dishes, something he could easily do without needing to take off his sunglasses. Maybe he would make a custom pair of sunglasses that he could wear that acted like the Iron Man HUD. He would be able to watch Steve without actually looking at him, he wouldn't have to try and do stuff looking through darker lenses just because Steve had decided to intrude.

Putting the last of the more difficult dishes in the dishwasher, Tony turned to see Steve squeezing out the different frosting into their own bowls, before adding a few other ingredients. The cupcakes were already in the oven, and it seemed that Steve was even taking over the frosting duty. Joke was on him though, Peter had already told Tony exactly how he wanted the cupcakes.

Steve could feel Tony watching him as he made the store bought frosting a bit more fluffier, lighter, and ready for the cooking cupcakes. He turned a little, scooping the frosting into plastic bags, (something he had seen in a video on the internet), and looked at Tony. "I thought that this might make frosting the cupcakes easier. Do you know what they're supposed to look like?" Peter had been given the duty of decorating the container that would hold the cupcakes, and was out at the table again.

"Yeah," Tony said, moving forward. The oven timer dinged, and Steve moved towards the oven, putting the frosting down on the counter. He passed by Tony and their arms brushed accidentally, but both men paused for a second, looking at each with only a couple of inches between them. Steve swore he saw Tony's eyes widen through the lenses, his eyes looking familiar, but Tony moved first, moving away.

Tony took a silent breath and grabbed the frosting bags. He felt nothing when that happened. It definitely didn't feel like there might have been actually sparks when their arms had touched. It was just static, static generated by the completely hidden arc reactor. That was it.

Steve glanced back one last time as he closed the oven, telling himself that he was not looking at Tony's butt, his well shaped, perfect size for his hands, ass. Nope.

"Daddy?" Tony jumped, and looked at Peter as he leaned up on the stool that was across from the frosting station that had been set up. "Can we make a Cap cupcake for Mr Steve, too?"

"Yeah, sure, why not," Tony said quickly as Steve put the cupcakes down next to him, on the cooking rack.

"We gotta let them cool down first," Steve said, smiling at Peter. "Or else the frosting will just slide right off, it'll start to melt." Peter nodded, watching the cupcakes, smiling.

"While that happens, we can put the chimichangas in the oven again," Tony told the little boy. "Wade likes cheese, right? Let's put some more on top, warm up the food, and melt the cheese."

"Yeah!" Peter grinned and slid off the stool, running over to the fridge to pull out a bag of shredded cheese.

Steve watched the two move around the kitchen, Tony doing the heavier lifting, and messing with the oven, but peter was grinning the whole time. He was again confused, on how apparently Tony could even cook boxed cupcakes, but Mary said that he and Peter spent a lot of time together. If he spent the night at Tony's often enough, Tony would have to know how to cook something, right?

As the baking dish went into the oven, Tony and Peter came back over to the apparent cupcake station, and Steve nodded that the cupcakes were cool enough to frost now. This was something that Tony could do, details? Easy. He had personally wired the Mark II Iron Man suit, taking a probably ridiculous amount of time to do meticulous details that might have driven anyone else crazy.

Watching Tony grab the bags, cut the holes, and work with an amount of focus he hadn't seen before, Steve was impressed with the work that Tony was doing, even with the sunglasses still on. He put down a base of blue frosting, then started to put down two red circles with a white circle between them, and put down a perfect start in the middle. He did that two more times, three Captain America cupcakes sitting there, looking nearly perfect. Tony grabbed the red and black frosting, placing them together, before making a swirled cupcake.

Tony then made two cupcakes that he figured would be just for Wade and Peter, both with a red base. On the first cupcake he took the black frosting, putting down lines to make it look like a black tip flower. Tony took the blue frosting and did the same thing on the other cupcake, a blue tipped flower. When he was done with the cupcakes he looked up to see Peter and Steve watching him, sitting next to each other.

Tony blinked and looked at them. "You have an amazing eye for detail," Steve said to him. "Those are some of the best frosted cupcakes I've ever seen."

Peter was smiling at Tony, the pushed one of the Captain America cupcakes over to Steve, then over to Tony, the third still in front of him. "My Daddy's the best." Tony picked up the cupcake, and a genuine smile spread over his face as he looked at Peter. Okay, so, maybe he could put up with Steve sitting next to his son for a few more minutes.


	7. April 2010 - May 2010

**A/N: Starting to touch on Iron Man 2 in this story, but only parts. Now I'm really starting to mess with things and the timeline, but it should be fun. I brushed over some parts because they would have been identical to the movie, (like Pepper becoming CEO, and Tony seeing Natalie Rushman and hiring her under Pepper's nose), so I went right to the good stuff. Next chapter might be longer, some fun stuff is going to happen!**

 **Seriously, everyone is awesome! Your comments make my day when I read them! I read each one, and I'm gong to try and start responding to everyone as well.**

 **Unbeta'd, and Marvel owns more of this than I do.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**

* * *

 **April 2010**

"Hey, Mary, can I ask you a question?" Steve grabbed the punching bag to stop it from swinging, looking at Mary who was next to him. The SHIELD training room was generously supplied, and they had put up some special equipment just for Steve, stuff that he couldn't break as easily. Or at least very often.

"When you say it like that, I get the feeling that it's going to be personal." Mary stopped, her hair pulled back, practicing some hand-to-hand on a dummy. "I don't think it's about Peter, and you're not blushing, so not about my love life."

"You love trying to rile me up, don't you?" Mary smirked at him and he rolled his eyes, a little smirk. "Does Tony not like me?"

Mary tilted her head a little, looking over at him, catching her breath. "Tony? Did he do something? I mean, yeah, he can be an ass some times." Steve stared evenly at her. "Okay, so most of the time. But you help with Peter, and he loves Peter, possibly more than himself. Which is a major improvement from like, three years ago."

"He didn't do, or say anything," Steve said, thinking about his limited interactions with Tony, but also thinking about Mary's words as well. "I guess that's the problem. He comes off, kind of," Steve paused, trying to think of the right words.

"Dickish?" Steve wrinkled his nose at her choice of words and she chuckled lightly. "Stand offish?"

"Like, he doesn't want to be around me, but he doesn't say anything because Peter likes me." Steve frowned. "I don't think he's ever actually said my name. He usually calls me, Neighbor"

"Ah," Mary said, a little wrinkle between her eyes. "I don't think there's any hiding it anymore, not that he was trying to in the first place." Mary grabbed her towel and wiped her forehead, and faced Steve. "Tony is jealous."

"Jealous?" Steve's eyes widened in surprise. "Of what?!" What could this man Possibly be jealous of? From what he knew he had plenty of money to make sure that Peter never wanted for anything, and he had Peter as an amazing son. He had Mary's loyalty and friendship, and a steady job, and was extremely smart. Except when it came to cooking.

"You get to see Peter more than he does," she said simply with a shrug of her shoulders. "If I'm working late you get to pick him up from school, and you're teaching him art."

"Well, it's not a problem," Steve said, trying to downplay it. He just wanted to help out Mary, he liked to consider her a friend as well as his Handler. She was really good at her job. "It's not like there's something that keeps me constantly busy right now-"

"Exactly," Mary said, looking at him. "Tony can't go out and pick up Peter last minute, and Tony is wonderful with electronics, and science in general. "We've decided that a lot of it is stuff that we don't want Peter experimenting with until he's at least eight or nine. I'd prefer thirteen, but Peter is extraordinarily smart." Mary grabbed a water bottle, throwing one to Steve, and grabbing one for herself. "Tony's company keeps him busy, a lot of the time. So, when Peter suddenly starts talking about the new neighbor,..." She trailed off, letting Steve finish the thought.

And it did start to make some sense. Did Tony think that he was trying to take Peter from him? Peter talked about Tony all the time, though, he adored his father. Steve didn't have much time with his father, and his mother for that matter, but these were different times.

When Steve got back to his apartment he went to his study, the files on the desk. Peggy's file had been moved to the side. He had gone through her file just after Christmas, which really wasn't the best time of year, but he couldn't help himself. He had needed time to really digest what he had read, happy that she had had the chance to have a family, to live her life, but it was still hard. He hadn't been able to go through the other files yet, not sure if he could handle it. Today though, he was going to try again.

Steve pulled out the chair to the desk, sat down and reached for the first file on top, and opened it. 'Howard Stark'. There were a few pictures under a paperclip, and he pulled them out. On top there was a picture of the Howard Stark that he had met, young, cocky, and so confident about everything he did. Underneath was a picture of him with Peggy, the founding of SHIELD. And under that was a picture of him with another woman; flipping the picture over someone had printed 'Howard & Maria '68.'

It seemed that the others had been able to make a family after the war, and Steve was happy to see it. Howard's wife was beautiful, dark hair and green eyes. Steve looked back at the file, reading through the file, skimming until he got to what had happened after the war. Howard had been integral to the Allies victory, but Steve wondered at what cost. Stark Industries had helped America in the arms race, making new weapons, and propelling his business. Howard had also had a son, Anthony, but there was no picture attached. Anthony wasn't mentioned much through out the rest of the file. And then something as simple as a car accident had claimed their lives. He wondered what Howard would think he was alive today, Steve wondered how it would feel to have a familiar face around as well. Maybe, soon, he might look for this Anthony. Maybe it wouldn't be too weird to speak with an old friend of his father's. Maybe.

* * *

Tony sucked in a breath, trying to breath after it felt like he had deposited most of his internal organs into to the toilet, again. "J," Tony wheezed out, pulling himself over to the sink to grab the washcloth that was there. "More labs." He grabbed the washcloth, putting it over his head, and let out a little breath as the coolness hit the fever he had started to run. Tony was deftly trying to ignore the possible red he saw in the water, and was more focused on why he felt like absolute shit when he had done nothing but eat an actual meal, and go to bed earlier than two in the morning.

Tony flushed the toilet and pushed himself up, carefully, and waiting for his feet to be able to hold him up with having to think about it. Jarvis opened every door that he could along the way, So Tony could keep pulling himself along the wall, pausing when he felt that he might be getting too dizzy, or that his stomach might try to rebel again.

Pepper was supposed to come over to bring him the paperwork to sign for the Stark Expo, and his latest idea, so it could be delivered to the Board for approval. He could not look, or feel, like this when she got here. She'd rat him out to Mary, and she'd be over here to check on him, and if he was contagious he didn't want Peter to get sick because Mary had caught whatever he did. Tony was sure that wasn't what was happening, that would be too simple.

Tony slumped into the chair by his computer station, taking a few deep breaths, closing his eyes. He was starting to feel like this more often, and there had to be something happening, and now he needed to find out. What if it was genetic? What if it could have been passed down to Peter? He had to be prepared, to get on top-

"Sir?" Tony opened his eyes at Jarvis's voice. He saw that the computer screens were lit up with test results. When had Tony taken the blood sample? He glanced at his arm and saw that there was a little gauze square with a little spot of blood on it. Huh.

"These the results?" Tony pulled himself up a little to look at the screen.

"I'm afraid so, Sir." Tony didn't like it when Jarvis spoke like he was sorry. "The palladium levels in your blood appear to be increasing, with the increased use of the arc reactor and the Iron Man suit." Tony rubbed his face with one hand as he listened to Jarvis. "Unfortunately, the device that is keeping you alive, is also killing you."

"Yeah, kind of figured that out," Tony breathed out. "Alright, so, how do we fix this?" Tony leaned in towards his computer, closing his eyes briefly from a wave of dizziness. "First, something to counteract this, because I can't keep feeling like this if I haven't ingested copious amounts of alcohol."

Tony's fingers tapped on the reactor in his chest as Jarvis started to bring up windows of information around him. He would need to make a new reactor piece for his chest, one with a more accessible core. He would need to keep replacing the palladium core, in an attempt to stop the build up of the heavy metal in his system. He couldn't eliminate it, not yet, but he needed to buy himself more time. He'd also need an easier way to check the palladium levels in his blood, he couldn't keep coming down to the lab for a full workup.

He could tackle this, as well as get going on the Stark Expo, and build up a prototype for new energy, run Stark Industries, and be a more constant role in Peter's life. He was Tony Stark. But maybe, there were a few too many things on his plate, maybe there was a way to make things a little easier. He needed more time, and he'd have to make it somehow. Tony watched Pepper coming towards the lab, and a few more ideas started to pop up, to play out, and take form.

* * *

Tony knocked on Mary's door, trying his damnedest not to look behind him where he knew The Neighbor's door to be. He wasn't sure if the man was home, but he didn't want anymore awkward encounters. Since Valentine's Day he had seen Steve six more times, and all but two had been with Peter. He and Steve had practically run into each other when Steve was coming back from his morning jog. Tony was forced to be up early for a meeting with Pepper, and he told Mary that he could take Peter to school. As he got out of his car, not only did he almost hit Steve with the door, he stepped out and almost face planted into the taller mans chest. (Not that he would have minded, for a few seconds at least.)

The second time that Tony had seen Steve without Peter, he was heading towards SHIELD to meet with Mary and Coulson. Tony had luckily been dressed casually, jeans, a t-shirt, and leather jacket, and had thought enough ahead to cover the glow from the arc reactor. He saw Steve coming out of the building and quickly changed his trajectory to make it look like he wasn't about to head in. It was too late to get away from Steve, as was evidenced when Steve walked over to him.

"Tony?" Tony glanced over at Steve, nodding a little, shaking his hand when the blonde extended the formality. Wow, did he had a hell of a grip.

"Yeah, hey," Tony nodded a little, looking around a bit, not letting Steve's eyes settle on anything. "Fancy seeing you around here, getting out of your apartment and all that. Have a meeting or something?"

"I was actually wondering the same thing about you," Steve said, and Tony noted that he hadn't actually answered Tony's question.

"Yeah, well, I work around here, and I just got out of a zoning meeting," Tony continued, shrugging a little.

"For that project you were working on, right?" Seemed Steve had a good memory. That or Peter kept talking about it; could be either honestly.

"Yeah, gonna be big stuff, real proud of it. Hey, listen, don't wanna hold you up, I'm sure we'll see each other around, again." Tony pat his shoulder with his hand and started walking again. He could just circle around and take the back entrance to the building.

"Come on in, Tony." Mary opened the door, leaving it open for him. He could smell some food in the oven. Closing the door he dropped the glasses and hat on the table, and saw Peter jump up from his seat at the table.

"Hi Daddy!" Peter ran over, jumping up, wrapping his arms around Tony's waist, his legs around Tony's leg.

Tony stumbled back a little, chuckling, ruffling Peter's hair. "Hey, kiddo! How's homework going?" Tony took steps, shaking Peter as he walked, making him giggle. "Mama! I've got something stuck to me!"

"Looks like it's boy shaped," Mary said from the kitchen.

"I thought the apartment was supposed to spray for this stuff, I'd get your deposit back." Tony shook his leg out, making Peter squeal. "It's stuck tight, I don't know what to do."

"I don't have anything for that." Mary smirked a little, looking over at them. "I think maybe, you have to give it a hug."

"What's if it's sticky?" Tony made an exaggerated face. "What if it gets all over me?" Tony held onto the table, and lifted the leg with Peter on it. "You just want me to go ahead and do this?" Tony reached down, grabbing Peter around the waist with his arm, hefting him up under his arm. He spun Peter around a little and pulled him into a big hug.

"Yes, that's exactly what I want you to do!" Mary said over Peter's laughing. "See, now it's not stuck to your leg anymore."

Peter wrapped his arms around Tony's neck, and his legs around his waist. "Now it's stuck to my chest!" Tony laughed and dropped into a chair, arm catching Peter so he could sit in his lap. "How was school, kiddo? Get all your homework done?"

"It was okay." Peter pulled his notebook over with one of his school texts. "I'm almost done."

"You can stay in my lap, if you keep working on that while I talk to Mama, okay?" Tony turned Peter around in his lap, so he facing the table and his notebook now. He kept an arm around Peter, to keep him steady in his lap as Mary came out to sit by them. Peter nodded and started to work on his homework again.

"What's so important that you wanted to talk in person?" Mary put a glass of water in front of Tony, with her own glass in front of her.

"I'm thinking of making Pepper CEO," Tony said as he took a drink of water. Mary's eyes widened a little and she looked at him. "It's not like she doesn't make a lot of the decisions anyway. She'd be getting the title and pay for the work she actually does, and won't be stuck babysitting me anymore." Mary leaned forward and put the back of her hand to his forehead. Tony was secretly glad that he hadn't left the house without drinking the chlorophyll that he and Jarvis had some up with. He might have looked crappier than he did. "I'm not sick."

"No, but what's coming out of your mouth, it sounds like responsibility." Mary narrowed her eyes at him a little, studying him.

"Well, I was making a list," Mary's eyes narrowed a little more, "and I realized that there's a lot on my plate right now. So, I needed to make it smaller."

"Making it smaller means giving away your job?" Mary leaned back in her seat, watching him closely. Tony had to remember that she used to work the FBI, and now worked with SHIELD; he couldn't give anything away.

"Well, I've got the Expo coming up," Tony said with a little one armed shrug. "It's not going to be ready by the time I wanted it to be, but that's alright. It's still going to take a lot of effort. And I've got this new project, where I am going to be involved in almost every detail."

"What's it going to do?" Mary asked, taking the notebook from Peter, handing him another one as he switched homework subjects.

"It's a prototype," Tony started. "It's going to be a tower, one that runs off of clean energy." Mary tilted her head, curious. "Not connected to any power grid, self-sustaining."

"You have something that can do that?" Mary asked. Her eyes widened a little in recognition when he tapped his chest, nails tapping the glass covering of the arc reactor. "But, doesn't that run off of heavy elements? Damaging ones, for the earth?"

"I'm working on that, actually," Tony said. It wasn't just the earth that the arc reactor was dangerous for. "There was the large one back in Malibu, and that generated power, and it was safe enough to be near. And if I can make this in a cave, who's to say that I can't make another one that can generate enough energy to power a building, and eventually a city block in New York, or even an entire city?"

"If anyone can do it, it's you, Tony." Mary said, then pulled Peter's homework up to read over it. "But you can't hand over the Expo to Pepper? Or the construction part of this tower to her? It has to be CEO?"

"She's good, she's been doing this for years, honestly." Tony looked over Peter's shoulder, watching him do his math homework. He smirked a little, proudly, as his son was working through them like it was elementary- well, like it was nothing for the little boy. "And, it frees me up enough to be there, more, for you and Peter," Tony added quietly.

"Tony-"

"Listen, we all know that next month is my birthday," Tony said, quickly changing topics. "And, SI has sponsored a vehicle in the Monaco Grand Prix." Mary raised an eyebrow at him over the notebook. "I want to take you and Peter with me to Monaco, to celebrate." Now Mary's eyes widened. "It's like a family vacation, kind of, thing. Those happen, right? For birthdays?"

"Where's Monaco?" Peter asked, looking over at Mary.

"It's in France, sweety," Mary told him, then looked back up at Tony. "You just want to up and go to Monaco?"

"Grand Prix," Tony reminded her. "F1 races, all that fun stuff. Really, it'll be all kinds of fun. I'll talk to the school-"

"I will talk to the school." Mary stopped him. "It'll be all over the news if even one of those secretaries recognizes you."

"So that's a yes, then?" Tony smirked, leaning in a little. Peter had looked up at Mary now, smiling, adopting the same hopeful look that Tony had on his face at the moment. "Please?"

"Please, Mama?" Peter parroted. Mary looked between the two of them.

"You're both going to be the death of me. Fine, okay, we'll go!" Mary shook her head, smiling a little as Peter whooped, hugging Tony. He didn't even know what was going on, but all he knew was that he was going to some place with his Mama and Daddy, all for Daddy's birthday.

* * *

 **May 2010**

In the end, all Tony had to do was talk Pepper in circles until he sprung it on her that he wanted to make her CEO. She was shocked, he knew she would be, but had accepted. She also managed to get out of him that he had wanted to spend more time with Peter, and she could almost forgive him for selling off their private art collection.

The day before they all left for France, Tony was called to DC for a senate hearing, no doubt about the Iron Man armor again. Steve was showing Peter how to blend some of the colored pencils that he had when he caught the headline on a news station.

Steve glanced up, and saw the back of a man with brown hair, looking at the people behind him, ignoring the Senators who were trying to get his attention. The headline at the bottom of the screen said "Anthony Stark - Former CEO Stark Industries", and Steve could see the similarities already to Howard. That was Howards' son alright, even the cockiness that rolled off of him. Steve rolled his eyes a little, grabbed the remote and changed the channel before the man turned around. It was obvious that the man would make a circus of the hearing.

Everything he had read about Anthony Stark online pointed to him being a Grade A, well, ass. Steve hadn't needed to read much more after seeing a history of wild parties, drinking, some drugs, and lots of women. He couldn't believe that that was how Howards' son had turned out; nothing like the man that he had known back in the war. Steve wondered if this Anthony's parents were turning in their graves at how he acted. The Howard he had known would be.

There was a knock on the door and Mary walked in after a second. Both Peter and Steve looked up, smiling at her. "Hi Mama."

"Hey, baby," she smiled, kissing the top of his head as she walked over. As Steve's front door swung shut, he saw a red headed woman walking by, towards the exit of the apartment. "How's your drawing?"

"Almost done," Peter grinned. "Is Daddy back from DC yet?"

"Not yet." Mary sat next to Steve, and he raised an eyebrow at her. She was about to dismiss it until Peter continued.

"Daddy said he had to go talk to some old men, who didn't know what they were talking about." Peter said, going back to his drawing. "Even Mr Steve turned the channel."

Mary blinked and looked at Steve. "It was Howards' son, I didn't stay on the channel."

"Ooh," Mary said, making her mouth a little 'o'. "Peter's dad works for Stark Industries, so he would be down there, too. While his boss deals with that, Tony is getting the rest of his project off the ground." She felt a little bad lying to Steve, but she really didn't know how Steve would react to Tony being the same Anthony Stark, and she didn't want Tony or Peter knowing that Steve was Captain America. Steve was doing really well, and he hadn't decided on if he wanted to get back into any kind of field work or not yet. He was going to decide when they got back from Monaco.

"Does he know Mr Stark?" Steve couldn't help but asking. He had thought about going to get an appointment with Anthony, before he did his limited research, but thought that it might be weird, for both of them.

"Probably," Mary admitted, looking over at Peter's drawing. "He's head of several projects, so I'm sure that they've talked business before. He doesn't really talk about that much with us. Are you going to show that to Daddy?"

Peter nodded. "Yup, it's his birthday present." Mary smiled and ruffled his hair a little. Steve leaned over, helping Peter blend the colors again, ("It's a special pencil from Mr Steve!"), and she watched them with a small smile. Mary almost wished that she could bring Steve with them, she had a weird feeling about going to Monaco.

* * *

What was Tony thinking? Oh, getting out of the restaurant, away from Pepper and Natalie Rushman, that was easy. Getting over to the Grand Prix, checking in on Mary and Peter up in one of the VIP boxes? Childs play. Going down to the cars, putting on a Stark racing suit and declaring that he was going to race? Tony was going to blame all that on the palladium. It was obviously making him sick, clouding his judgement.

Starting the F1 vehicle was nothing, he checked the screen the technicians were showing him, and nodded. He was Tony Stark, he already knew how this vehicle would perform, and he knew how he could get it over the finish line, preferably in first place. He was supposed to be watching the race with his son, but they had the rest of the weekend as well. The vibration of the vehicle all around him felt amazing, gave him a rush almost like the Iron Man suit, but it was different. He could practically feel Pepper's anger with him now, but this was his birthday, it was his time, with his family... Possibly his last.

Of course he wasn't expecting the man in the middle of the track when he came around the bend. Was that electri- And then he was in the air, with the car. He tumbled int he air, unable to get out of the vehicle, his brain working in slow motion, along with the rest of time. Tony's body jerked as he landed, letting out a shout when his head, thankfully protected by the helmet, scraped against the ground.

His head was hammering in his chest, his head was pounding, and he got a body shivering sensation of fear. The man was coming towards him, that man was after him! He pulled the helmet off, and wriggled around, grasping for the restraints that kept him in the vehicle. The car tilted a bit, unsteady, and Tony thought that he could still use that to his advantage to get out.

There were other cars around that had been, cut?, by whatever weapon this man had. It was a good thing his legs didn't want to work with him just yet, cause Tony needed to keep close to the ground. He skirted around the damaged car parts, watching the man walk past him, eyes only on the F1 racing car that he had just been in. Tony grabbed part of a red car, watched the man slice through his own car with his whip, pushed down the fear, and swung at the mans head.

It connected, but the man barely budged. He turned around, looked right at Tony, and Tony was already moving backwards. The man brought his arm up, and Tony dodged. He brought his other arm up and Tony moved to the other side, losing his footing. An electrified whip came down on the ground and Tony spread his legs, feeling heat uncomfortably close to body parts he really rather liked.

He scrambled up, turning and throwing himself forward. Unfortunately, one of the mans' weapons caught his leg, throwing him forward into an overturned car. He grunted, then shouted when his head connected with the underside of the car, and he flopped back onto the ground. Tony must have been imagining it, but he sword he heard two shouts when he landed on the ground. Two different names, but both for him. There was no way that Mary or Peter would have down here, not with this happening.

Tony saw the gas leaking from the car that his body, and head, had just become intimately familiar with, and saw the man moving closer int he broken mirror. He had a shot. Those whips were conducting electricity, and they were making sparks as they dragged across the ground. Tony saw the chest piece, something that looked frighteningly familiar, and he was already working out how the set-up worked. He had to time this just right.

The man started to wind the whips around, he was aiming up for a good strike. Tony moved as he saw the mans up start to go up. He jumped to his feet, and as the whip came down on the car, Tony was tucking and rolling across the ground, his body groaning in protest. He came up to his feet, the car exploding, fire and heat blasting onto his back, and moved back up to his feet.

"Tony!" Tony whipped around, and saw Mary above him in the stands.

"What are you doing? Get out of here!" Was she crazy? Where was Peter? Tony quickly patted at his arm when some flame licked his cheek. How did he not notice that he was on fire sooner.

Tony jumped back as the man cut through the burning car, pushing him closer to the fence. "Pepper gave me this!" Mary shouted again, pulling up a red suitcase. Bless Pepper and Happy. Tony jumped up on the fence, climbing up as far and as quickly as he could. Mary tossed the suitcase, Tony reached out for the handle, and the fence was suddenly falling backwards as a whip sliced through the links.

Tony fell hard, twisting, with the suitcase, and gasped as his chest, and arc reactor, landed on top of the suitcase. Tony's vision swam a little, but he didn't have time to be reminded that he was a mortal, he needed to get into the suit.

Jumping up, Tony kicked the case, and it opened up. He slid his hands into the holds, pulling it up as he turned so that he could face his enemy. The man was looking over at Mary, who was backing up, but a look of determination on her face, and Tony's suit assembled around him.

"Hey!" Tony shouted, aiming his hand up as the man turned around. "I'm over here." The whining charge of the repulsor was the only warning the man had before Tony shot. And apparently the only one he needed. The man used the whip to deflect the shot, but Tony fired again. To the same result. A whip wrapped around Tony's wrist, then his neck, and threw him to the ground.

"Tony!" Mary was still there. Tony couldn't let this man hurt her, or get to Peter. The electricity was starting to short out the suit, the HUD was flickering, and there was a lot of red in his vision. This had to stop.

Tony started to wrap the whip around his arm, then around his body. He could feel the electricity moving through him now, the suit becoming a nice little conductor, which shouldn't have been possible. He moved closer and closer to the man, until he was right there, in front of him, with no more room to move his whip. Tony swung his left fist, hitting the mans side, then swung the ride, hitting his jaw, and his left again to connect with his gut. Tony threw the man to the ground, the whips becoming loose enough to slid off, and he walked over, grabbing the power supply from the mans chest.

The HUD was still flickering, but he was able to get an analysis. This man had built an arc reactor. Tony crushed it in his hand, looking over towards Mary. He was about to enter a shit storm, again.


	8. May 2010 - July 2010

**A/N: He's a more sweet chapter, which will be followed by what I hope is a heart clenching one. Because, I'm evil. :D Nah, but I love seeing how much everyone likes this fic! And since I got full points on a big class assignment, and then finished some homework a week early, I let myself work on this with reckless abandon! So here you guys go!**

 **Unbeta'd, and Marvel owns more of this than I do.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**

* * *

"What were you thinking!" The car had barely started moving before Pepper had started yelling at him. After what had happened, they weren't going to stay longer in Monaco. Happy and Pepper picked up Tony from the prison, where had talked to his mystery assailant, Vanko apparently, and Mary and Peter were already back at the jet. Now that Tony was no longer bristling with the anger for the Russian man, he was antsy. He wanted to hold onto Peter, to know that he was alright, to know that he was safe.

"I'm thinking that I stopped a mad-man," Tony answered, not looking at Pepper, watching the roads, timing how long until they got to the airstrip.

"What were you even doing out there?" Pepper looked like she was ready to murder him with her eyes alone. Tony glanced around, not seeing Rushman, but she hadn't been on the jet with them on the way to Monaco either. Just one more person he didn't have to explain Peter and Mary, too, to keep them safe from.

"I thought that I was going to have some fun." Tony didn't want to have this conversation. At all. "It's not driving is hard."

"Tony!" Pepper practically screeched. He was already done with this. He couldn't stop thinking about Vanko's words.

'Hey, Tony. Palladium in the chest, painful way to die.'

Tony absently tapped his finger against the arc reactor, looking out the window. If things kept progressing the way they were, he wasn't going to be able to give as much time to peter as he'd like. He needed to set up a legacy for him, to be even more of a role model, an example. Not a disappointment. Tony needed to make up for not being able to spend more with his son.

When Tony saw the jet, he sat up a little more. He hadn't listened to anything Pepper had said, knowing that he had probably head it all before from her through their years. As soon as Happy pulled up, Tony was practically flying out the door. "Sounds, great, Pep." Tony said. "Don't do it again, stop putting yourself in danger, the usual." His voice faded off as he went for the stairs of the jet, pulling himself inside.

"Tony!" Pepper was following him closely from the car. She was clearly upset, angry, whatever.

Tony heaved a sigh and turned to face her in the doorway of the jet, thankful that no cameras were around. yet. "Pepper, you can yell at me all you want later, but right now, I need to see my son. A combination of things happening, only some of which is my fault, has guaranteed that my time will once again be limited with Peter." Pepper blinked, stopping in front of him on the steps. There might have been a slight pleading tone in his voice. "I am going to be hearing about this psycho having arc reactor technology within the next hour, and the press is going to descend upon me like vultures in the desert. This plane ride home is going to be the most time I get with Peter for a long time, Pep." Tony glanced back inside the jet a little. "I need this time right now."

Pepper sighed a little and waved her hand, the promise of a future conversation there, but she understood. Tony leaned forward to kiss her cheek and hurried inside once again.

Mary was waiting in front of the door to the private room in the back of the jet, and looked at Tony, stepping forward to hug him tightly. "Are you insane?" She whispered shouted at him as Tony hugged her back.

"I should be asking you that," Tony shot back, leaning back a little to make sure she wasn't injured. "Who just runs into a dangerous situation like that." Mary raised an eyebrow, mouth open about to say something before Tony stopped her. "That isn't already involved in said situation."

"A SHIELD agent," Mary shot back. "Are you okay, though?" She lightly touched the cut that was around his eye. It had been cleaned and was looking much better than before, and they had put a couple of bandages over it too, hiding it a bit better.

"Just a little sore, nothing I can't deal with," Tony said with a shrug. "What about-"

"Just a little shaken, wants to see his Daddy." Tony nodded to Mary's words as she stepped aside to let Tony go through the door. Peter was sitting on the little couch, and nearly flew off of it when Tony walked in.

Tony scooped the little boy into his arms, holding him tightly to his chest, sticking his nose in Peter's hair. "Daddy." Peter mumbled the word into his shirt, wrapping his arms tightly around Tony's neck. "I was scawed." Sometimes Peter's R's turned back into W's when he was really upset, and it pulled at Tony to hear that, thinking that he helped cause that.

"I'm know, I'm sorry, Petey." Tony sat down on the couch, holding Peter close to his body, never wanting to let go. "But everything's okay now, I'm right here." Peter practically curled up into a ball in Tony's lap. "I'm not going anywhere, bud." He dropped a kiss on the top of Peter's head. Tony moved to put his feet up on the couch, back leaning against the arm, pulled his knees up and just let Peter use his body as a seat, cuddling the boy. Peter's hand was covering Tony's arc reactor through the shirt and Tony let out a little breath.

He felt the jet start, and eventually take off, but Tony didn't move. Peter started to drift off in his arms, and for just a moment, Tony could forget everything else that was happening. Inside the jet, inside that room, on that couch, in that moment, Tony was just like any other father. He was holding onto his son, his child, that he would do anything for. His fingers started to card through Peter's hair, idly thinking that it was getting long, a bit shaggy. He could see the waves from the natural curls that he had inherited from Tony. Tony liked to keep his hair short so he didn't have deal with those curls anymore.

Tony moved his head a little when he saw Mary walk in the room, sitting in one of the seats across from the couch. Mary looked at Peter, watching him as a mother does sometimes, eyes soft, a little smile on her lips. Tony wondered if she wanted more kids. He knows that she surely hadn't planned on having Peter, still lost in the grief of losing her husband. Perhaps they had talked about it, maybe they didn't, but Tony knows that she had not been planning on this, least of all with someone like Tony Stark.

Having Peter in his life had changed Tony, there was no doubt about that. Even before Afghanistan happened, before Iron Man, Tony had started changing, for the better. Maybe, if Tony really got dug deep down, he could admit that it wouldn't be so terrible to actually have a family, with maybe another kid. Not that that would be happening anytime soon. He couldn't even promise to keep Peter safe, much less another kid. And technically, he was a single parent. Yeah, Mary was there to do most of the work, and sometimes Tony felt horrible that he couldn't do more, but Mary was dating Coulson, and Tony was single.

Of course, thinking about a family, even if that's just Peter, (because even Tony could admit that Peter was absolutely perfect), had Tony thinking about The Neighbor, and that just had to stop. Things hadn't exactly gone well with George, his attempt at dating again, went down in near flames a month after it had started. Turns out that George was not as good an actor as he thought, and Tony was able to see that Tony Stark was just another name for money, and sex. Tony was glad that he hadn't mentioned Peter to the man.

But, Tony thought he didn't really have to worry about that at the moment. Jarvis was still running the equations for different elements to replace palladium, but so far there was nothing even close. It didn't mean that Tony was giving up, not by a long shot; he planned on being around for Peter, and Mary, but Tony was a futurist. And if he didn't find something soon, Tony wasn't going to have a future. Why drag someone else down with him in some kind of relationship, only to possibly break their heart? Not worth it.

"Tony?" Tony looked up and over at Mary's soft voice. Some of life came rushing back at Tony as he focused on her. He was in a jet, his own private jet. They were flying back to New York from Monaco, after someone had tried to kill Tony. Once the jet landed, life was going to catch up with Tony.

"I'm sorry," Tony whispered to her, looking back down at Peter, who was still sleeping against his chest, little hand on the arc reactor, safe in his arms. "I keep making things hard."

"I don't think that you do it on purpose," Mary told him. "It's not like you put out an invitation for people to come after you."

"Didn't I?" Tony looked back over to her. "I made the suit, I put on the suit, I made myself a target."

"By trying to make a different legacy," Mary argued. "For Peter, and for you."

"And look where its gotten me, again." Tony wrinkled his nose a little. "It's going to be hard to get to see Peter, and I can't stand when that happens. I asked Pepper to be CEO so I could focus on the important things in my life, to make time to be a better Dad, and somehow I managed to draw even more attention to myself."

"You were raised in front of the cameras." Tony glanced at Mary as she crossed her leg over her knee. "You're a constant for the press, and I think that even if you weren't Iron Man, the cameras would find a reason to take your picture anyway. You keep sleazy reporters, journalist, and paparazzi with a job, and they wouldn't have it any other way. You're not the only one, but you're the most popular at the moment."

Tony let out a sigh. "One day, we won't have to worry about any of this. I won't have to worry that Peter thinks I don't spend enough time with him, or that I don't love him enough."

"Tony-"

"Still dealing with my own Daddy issues, thanks Howard," Tony muttered and rubbed circles on Peter's back. "But, I'm trying, and I gotta think, that maybe, that counts for something. Right?" Tony looked back at Mary, the question in the air, the question in his eyes, lingering inside of him.

Mary moved from the seat to kneel in front of Tony, putting hands on his arm. "I've said it once, I've probably said it half a dozen time, but I'll say it again," Mary started, her voice soft, but confident. "You may not be a conventional father, but you are one, and you are a damn good one. Are you perfect? No, but I'm not a perfect mother either. Do you intentionally hurt Peter?" She shook her head. "You want nothing but the best for him, and you want to keep him safe. You're trying to spare him the kind of childhood that you had; trying to keep him out of the camera's eyes, which has to be extremely hard.

"When we first met, I was a mess, and you were slightly misogynistic." Tony wrinkled his nose at her words, but didn't deny them. "But in the nearly six years that we have been in each others lives, you have become one of my best friends, Anthony Stark. And that's something I never thought that I would say."

"Not the only one," Tony murmured quietly.

"You do spoil Peter a bit," Mary held up a finger when Tony went to protest, "but, I expected that from you, honestly. I'm just glad that you don't let it get out of hand."

"More like you don't let me let it get out of hand," Tony corrected, a small smile on his lips.

"We're co-parents," Mary shrugged a little, like everything she did was no great trial. Dealing with Tony Stark was always a trial. "We have to present a united front to raise our little boy. Not only do we look out for Peter, but we look out for each other."

Tony pursed his lips a little, then drew them together tightly, fighting off the tingle and burn that moved up towards the back of his eyes. Why would he feel the need to tear up at this? Oh, right, because until Tony had a son, these were some of the nicest things that Tony could ever remember being told to him. The only other person he had heard something like this from was Jarvis, the live man, when he was just a little boy.

"I'm trying," Tony whispered to her, and Mary smiled softly at him.

"That's all I can ask of you." She stood up, kissing the top of his head, in probably a habitual move because of Peter, and proceeded to prove him right by kissing the top of Peter's head. Tony looked back at the sleeping form of his son as Mary left quietly, shutting the door.

"I love you, Peter," he said softly.

"Love you too, Daddy," the little boy murmured sleepily, snuggling in further to Tony's chest, warm and content. Tony would give away everything he had, if it meant that he would be able to stay with Peter, to keep his little boy.

* * *

Steve frowned as he watched another news station. It had already been a week after Monaco, and Anthony Stark was still one of the top stories. The cameras hounded him at every turn, so much that you could barely see the man when they showed him on TV; cameras, and microphones, cellphones, and recorders shoved in his face, Steve was surprised the man didn't start exclusively using the Iron Man suit to get around. No matter what he thought of the man as a person, Howard's son didn't deserve to be hounded as he was.

Stark seemed to be taking in stride though, and Steve wasn't sure how. Even he would have had to have words by now with the reporters. It looked like the man was barely able to move from the car to the door of Stark Industries with all the people surrounding him, and Steve felt a pang of sympathy for the man. He had been through that once, when he was the showman for the Army. But his admirers were kind, they were mostly fans.

But, Steve could see that Stark wasn't the only one being affected by the events of Monaco. Peter was a little more morose as well, and Steve figured that with all the trouble going on, it must be negatively affecting his Dad's work as well. Steve hadn't seen Tony come to the building since the mess started, and if Steve tried to spend a little more time with Peter to help him try and forget about it, then it was worth it if it worked.

Mary had said that the press was trying to get anyone from SI to talk to them, anyone that might even be hinted at having a relationship with Anthony Stark was being hounded. Steve asked Mary how she knew all of this, and she told him that another SHIELD agent was undercover with him as his PA right now. SHIELD had their own interest in Stark, a little differently than the Governments', and this was an easier, and slightly safer, way for them to keep an eye on him. Steve thought that the agent might be able to help Tony if he needed it, too.

Turning off the TV, sighing a little, Steve grabbed his keys, and messenger bag with a couple sketchbooks in it, and left the apartment. He was starting to feel cooped up in the apartment, and Peter didn't get out of school for another couple of hours. Mary was working with Coulson today, and Steve had eagerly volunteered to watch Peter. Drawing seemed to distract Peter from remembering that his Dad was unable to visit right now.

Steve decided to walk to the park that was down the street from Peter's school, passing by the school on the way, but stopped when he saw a familiar hat sitting on a bench at the corner. The man wore dark sunglasses, and a well worn blue Captain America hat. "Tony?"

The man on the bench jumped a little when Steve called his name, walking over to him. "Oh, hey," he said, sitting up a little bit straighter, fidgeting, and looking around. Steve walked over, sitting down on the bench on the opposite side. Tony looked like a skittish cat getting ready to run away.

"No worries, I haven't seen any cameras around," Steve said, and noticed how Tony's shoulders came up a little, the man slinking down, crossing his arms over his chest. "I've been guessing that's why you haven't been around the apartment?"

He watched Tony's nose twitch a little, before nodding a couple times. "Bad time at work," he mumbled, and Steve nodded. They both heard a whistle being blown and Steve looked across the street at Peter's school, and saw why the man was sitting where he was. "It's the closest I can get to him right now." Steve's heart broke a little at the older man's tone. He wanted to be with his son, but he didn't want to subject him too all the backlash that Stark was facing right now with the press. "I call him of course, but..."

"Yeah, I get it," Steve nodded, watching Peter play with another little boy. He was taller, with sandy blonde hair, and he was pushing Peter on the swings.

"That's Wade, by the way," Tony said. "That's his best friend, and I guess his crush."

"The one we made cupcakes for, right?" Steve asked, and he saw Tony nodded out of the corner of his eye.

"They're pretty much inseparable." Tony smirked a little happily, watching them. They watched as Wade moved to the swing next to Peter, pushing the empty seat until he got it to flip over the bars several times, making the swing higher up. He was taller than Peter by at least four inches. He hopped up on the swing, Peter watching him while he pumped his legs, keeping his own momentum. Wade worked his legs, too, getting higher and higher, until he started to slide back on the seat. He suddenly flipped upside down, wrapping his legs around the chains, and using his arms to keep up the momentum. He grinned over at Peter, and Peter laughed loudly.

Steve's eyes widened when he saw the kid pull the stunt, like it wasn't dangerous at all. Tony must have felt the same way. "They're inseparable at school, because apparently Wade spends a lot of time in detention for, inventive, stunts."

"I'm beginning to get an idea of what that means," Steve said as a teacher rushed over to the boys, trying to get Wade to sit properly on the swing. Steve glanced over at Tony, the man still slumped into himself on the bench, and he remembered the talk he had with Mary at SHIELD.

"I hope it's okay that I've been picking up Peter from school lately," Steve hedged out. Tony turned his head a little towards Steve, before turning it back to look at the school playground again.

"Someone's gotta do it," Tony said. His tone wasn't bitter, sounded more,... resigned, than anything. "Since I can't do it at all, and I know that Peter likes you, I'm not too worried."

"Still your son, though," Steve said gently."He still talks about you all the time, says he had fun with you last week, until you guys had to come home." Tony nodded but didn't anything, but Steve didn't feel as much tension rolling off of the man as before.

The two sat in, not a companionable silence, but it wasn't awkward, until the teachers blew their whistles. All the kids ran back over, the end of recess, and got ready to muddle through the rest of classes. As they marched back inside, Tony stood up from the bench. He gave a little side glance over to Steve, silent for a second.

"Uh, thanks," Tony said, and Steve blinked. "For keeping an eye out for Peter, you know, when I can't." Tony shrugged a little, put his hands in his pockets, and walked off down the sidewalk, already crossing the street by the time Steve had gotten to his feet. He could see the man was having a hard time dealing with unable to be with his son, and Steve felt for the man. He didn't know how he would be able to deal with it if he was in the same position. If Steve had had a kid when he was still Captain America, and in the spotlight. He wouldn't want them to know about his son or daughter, to keep them safe, but he was also making some frightening enemies at the time too, and he wouldn't put his family in danger.

But, Steve supposed that in this different time period, the same could be said for what Tony was doing for Peter. Enemies of Anthony Stark might go after his workers, and someone like Tony if his work was really that important, and that could lead to a possibility of going after Peter. He knew it was far-fetched, but a parent would do whatever they had too to keep their children safe. Steve knew that first hand from his Mother.

Steve sat back down on the bench, looking back over at the now empty playground, and the two swings still moving from where Peter and Wade had been swinging. He pulled out his sketchbook, and began to draw them.

* * *

 **June 2010**

Tony chugged down the rest of his glass, the green liquid making his taste buds revolt, as Dum-E rolled over with a fresh glass. He was helping Jarvis try to come up with elemental combinations now that they were done with the single elements, for the arc reactor. He was also getting ready to start working on his new pet project, Stark Tower. The plans were done, and the supplies were being delivered to the site, and the next day, Iron Man would show up to start construction. Tony was going to be involved in the Tower, since he couldn't get over to see Peter yet. Maybe this would get the press off of his back, again.

"Colonel Rhodes is approaching, Sir," Jarvis intoned, and Tony pulled the elemental demonstration away and onto the computer, hiding it.

Rhodey punched in his number at the door, and it unlocked, letting the uniformed man inside the workshop. "Sugar bear!" Tony called out, setting the chlorophyll filled glass down on the desk. "I missed my snookums."

"Tony," Rhodey sighed out a little, and Tony leaned back in his chair.

"So, not a social call, then," Tony said, then shrugged.

"Not a social call," Rhodey agree. "I don't think you can keep this away forever, Tony." Tony knew what he was talking about. They wanted one of the suits. Pepper could only fight off injunctions, and subpoenas for so long.

"Yeah, I figured." Tony slid the chair out, walking around the desk, Rhodey following him. "So, I've been thinking about it." He could practically feel Rhodey's eye brow raising. "Tomorrow, I want to start working on my new project. Stark Expo is already underway, nothing else I can do about that until more of the construction comes along, and people start sending me their ideas for presentations. And," Tony turned around to face Rhodey, stopping in front of the display cases of the Iron Man suits, "I want to see my son again."

"How are Mary and Peter doing with all this?" Rhodey asked. He loved his little nephew, and Tony thought that he would take care of Peter if anything ever happened to Tony. He could trust Rhodey.

"Now that Peter's older, old enough to know that I'm not around as often as I used to be, he's a sad little sack of child, and it's killing me." Tony managed to pull off an epic pout that Rhodey could easily imagine on Peter's face. Like father like son. "But, that's where my genius comes into play, once more. I'm going to strike a deal with you, Papa bear-"

"Don't call me that."

"-that's gong to make everyone happy." Tony walked over to one of the cases, pressed his hand to the glass, and Rhodey heard the hiss of something unsealing. The glass in front of Tony's Mark II started to rise up. "I introduce to you, the Mark II."

Rhodey looked at Tony, eyebrow raised. Tony knew the look on Rhodey's face, he had seen it often, well, often enough. Rhodey was assessing the situation. To him it looked like Tony was giving everyone exactly what they wanted, but that wasn't how Tony Stark operated; in fact he often did the opposite of what people wanted him to do. Tony tried not to smirk, practically seeing those thoughts go through the military mans head.

"I have had a contract drawn up, and it's just come back from Legal," Tony continued after a few moments. "I am willing to relinquish the Mark II into your custody, and control, under a couple of very specific details."

"Alright, this is sounding more like you, but I'm still confused," Rhodey told him.

"I'll never stop being hounded until I either give a suit up, have on stolen from me, or have the walls broken down by a tank, because someone else like Vanko decides to do something." Rhodey nodded at Tony words. "So, I'm going to do what they want, on my terms." Tony smirked.

"Now, this is more Tony Stark," Rhodey said nodding. "What are your conditions?"

"This is important," Tony told Rhdoey, leaning in a little. "Justin Hammer is not allowed to touch this suit. I don't want his squirrelly little fingers anywhere near my baby. This is the first suit that I built after getting out of that gods forsaken cave." Tony spit off the side just thinking about the little weasel. "And, this next condition, is even more important than the first one."

Tony looked at Rhodey, his expression serious, no room for error, no misinterpretations. "You are the only one allowed to use the suit." Rhodey blinked. "I trust you, Rhodes, whole-hearrtedly. And I won't let any other person into this suit." Tony turned back to the Mark II, putting a hand on the chest piece. "This suit, it's a weapon in their eyes, and they'll use it in ways I never want to see it used. I'm trying to destroy the Merchant of Death, but I can't if i think for even a second if I'm going to be manipulated, again." Tony tried not to think of Obidiah.

Rhodey put a hand on Tony's shoulder, and he looked over to the taller man. "No one else will get in the suit, Tony. I promise you." Tony nodded, letting out a breath.

"That's really the only condition that I put in the contract," Tony said, his voice lighter now, a bit of the show Tony coming out. He couldn't stop himself sometimes, Tony didn't like to do emotions. "Legal said I couldn't keep the part about Justin Hammer in there, but I thought I'd tell you."

"As soon as I find out what the plan is, I'll let you know, Tony." Rhodey looked over at the silver suit. "I know that this is taking a lot for you to do."

"Yeah, well, the sacrifices we all have to make sometimes," Tony muttered. "If I wasn't so sure that they wanted to make an army of my suits, I would have done this sooner.. I just want to see my son, again." Rhodey wrapped his arm around Tony's shoulders now. "Phone calls just aren't cutting it, anymore. And I keep running into The Neighbor whenever I go stalk the playground."

"There are so many things wrong with that last sentence," Rhodey said, hanging his head, causing Tony to grin. "And one day, you'll have to call him by his real name."

"Nah," Tony shook his head. "I don't see that becoming a thing. I mean, look at how often I call you by your name."

"Only when you're being serious," Rhodey said, and Tony nodded. "Let's get this contract out of the way." Tony smiled at the change of subject, and moved back towards his desk. One step closer to Peter.

* * *

 **July 2010**

The suit going to the Military, the Air Force with Rhodey more specifically, and Iron Man showing up to break ground and get started on a new project was enough to deter the media vultures, a little bit. Tony was no good at pouring the concrete, and let the professionals handle that, but he was masterful at the frame foundation, and lifting the steel bars without the use of a crane. He was trying to keep one of the safest construction sites around.

And while Tony was excited about the start of this new project, he was even more excited to see that enough cameras had backed off enough that they weren't surrounding the site, or the Manor, anymore. Tony was nearly giddy when he discovered that he would be able to sneak out of the house again.

Or more specifically, he could sneak people over. It was the Fourth of July, and Tony had set up a spectacular fireworks display for Peter, but had cleared with all the officials of New York as well. Traditional hot dogs and hamburgers were set up, along with other stuff that Pepper and Rhodey assured Tony was common for the holiday. He just wanted to make up his absence to Peter.

"Sir, Ms Parker and Young Master Peter have arrived," Jarvis told him. Tony grinned, slipping his t-shirt on and grabbed his phone, slipping it in his pocket.

"Are they coming in through the garage?" Tony asked, as practically hopped down the stairs. At the bottom though he took a deep breath, feeling a bit of tightness in his chest. He shook his head a little, before heading down the hall."

"Yes, Sir. Shall I direct them towards the kitchen?" His AI asked, and Tony shook his head. He put a hand out as a wave of dizziness floated through his head. "Sir?"

"J," Tony breathed out. "Scan." A small green light moved down and back up Tony's body.

"It would seem another core has been depleted, Sir," Jarvis said seriously. "It has happened faster than our last calculations. I would suggest up the dosage of-"

"Yeah, go ahead," Tony said, nodding. His eyes were closed and he was rubbed between his eyes. He needed to get to the workshop first. He forced his eyes open, keeping close to the wall and headed down the hall. The workshop was close tot he garage, so he had been heading in the right direction.

When Tony got to the door, he slid his hand up for the scanner, and the door opened almost immediately. Tony almost lost his footing, but caught himself on a nearby table. He cursed under his breath. How long had the core been like this? His feet slipped, and Tony let himself sink to the ground, putting his back against his desk, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths.

"Tony?" Tony's eyes shot open at Mary's voice. Well, it felt like they shot open, but his body was moving sluggishly, even his eyelids.

"J," Tony said quietly. "J, get the door for the lady." He was tired, and he needed the help. No use in denying it, not when it would keep him from Peter. As Mary came down, he was happy to see that Peter wasn't with her, but he wondered why she was alone.

"Tony?" She frowned as she stepped inside, hurrying over to him. "What's wrong?"

"Just, need your help," Tony said, taking her hand, trying to pull himself up. Mary quickly adjusted her position and helped him up, a hand staying on his shoulder when he wobbled a little. "Over on my desk, there's a wooden box." Mary helped him over, sliding him into the chair and pulling over the wooden box. She opened it as Tony reached underneath his t-shirt, with unsteady hands, and slowly unlocked the arc reactor from its casing.

Mary frowned and pulled out what looked like a camera battery, noting that two slots were already empty. "Tony, what is this?" She looked over and saw him looking at the glowing reactor, something brown, and smoking, sliding up out of it. "That was inside of you?" She exclaimed quietly as Tony took the disfigured item out, dropping it in a red container on the floor.

"Core for the arc reactor," Tony said breathlessly, his hand out to Mary. She let him take the new palladium core and insert it into the arc reactor. "Regular double A's don't work as well, sadly." He gave her a little smile, slipping his hand back under his shirt with the reactor. She listened to the click, and then Tony pounded on his chest a little, letting out a cough.

Dum-E rolled up, a bottle of green liquid in its claw, and Tony easily accepted it, taking a large drink. Mary was used to drinking some strange stuff, and she just raised a concerned eyebrow at him. "It's not alcohol," Tony told her, even though he knew that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"Tony," she looked at him evenly. "You can't have that in your body, whatever it is."

"Without it, the reactor doesn't work," Tony replied back, taking a second to lean back in the chair. His chest was feeling better, and the drink was helping to clear his dizziness. "I'm working on it, but I wouldn't be too concerned."

"Too concerned?" Her eyes widened a little at his words. "Tony, you just pulled out a smoking core from your chest, I think I have right to be concerned."

"I'll let you know when its time to be concerned," Tony told her. "But, I think the most important question is; Where is Peter?"

Mary gave him the stern mothering look, and Tony almost wilted under it, until she had given in. "He's upstairs, being entertained by Jarvis right now."

"I admit that I missed interacting with Young Master," Jarvis said and Tony raised his eyebrows. "It would do you well to stop getting into so much trouble, Sir." Mary had to laugh at the AI and Tony frowned, almost pouted.

"Community College, Jarvis, right along with the bots!"


	9. July 2010 - Feb 2011

**A/N: I'm gonna pull at your heartstrings a little at the end of this chapter. Also, Steve became a little pain in my butt in the middle of this chapter, so I had to put him in time out. There's going to be a special guest that shows up, and the next chapter will probably be a long one, because I fully intend on following up Chapter 10 with lots of DaddyTony fluff. Enjoy my good people!**

 **Also, because sometimes I really suck at getting ideas across in my writing sometimes, (my brain works fast and skips concepts), I snuck in Mary and Coulson's relationship all sneaky like, like both of them would be apt to do, and Steve doesn't know that Tony is Tony Stark yet, just as Tony- Peter's dad. He think that Tony Stark is Anthony Stark, separate people. I explain it here to someone else:**

So, this very thing held me up for a long time with this fic, and taking it where I want it, too, and the answer is a little silly, probably not 100%, but low key enough to slip right under Steve's radar. It probably sounds silly, but I have two different voices that I use all the time; my relaxed normal voice, and my professional voice. I've worked retail, and in call centers, and right now I am on the phone a lot, too. So the voice I use when I have to be "professional" is more higher pitched, very clear and sharp. But the tone that my family, my friends, and people I meet in the grocery store, is lower toned, full of slang, and sounds more relaxed. So unless someone knew it was me, I could be two people if my voice was the only thing someone had to go by. I do it naturally, too, not thinking about it. Again, not very fool proof, but right now Steve has no reason to think that either Tony or Anthony are hiding anything such as an identity, especially since Anthony Stark doesn't hide that he's Iron Man.

Really, this is all very flimsy, and I cringe every time they meet. Also, I like to pretend that Steve doesn't watch Anthony very much on TV, because it's all projected stuff from news sources just looking to make a buck off of someone's ill-fortune. Don't worry though, I have two different plans, but the identities won't be a problem for long. This is probably one of the biggest flaws of this story, and it was cooked up to a solution in the middle of an anxiety attack, so not the best legs to stand on. :)

This got really long, I'm sorry.

 **Unbeta'd, and Marvel owns more of this than I do.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**

* * *

Steve took a deep breath, watching the sun set from the roof of the apartment building, sitting in Mary's borrowed lawn chair. He assured her that he still remembered what watching the fireworks was like, sitting in a lawn chair at the highest point you could find. Bucky would go scout out a place for them, usually not too far away, and if his Ma could get the night off, she would follow them. She always requested the Fourth off, wanted to spend the whole day with her son on his birthday, but that didn't happen too much. Steve never minded so much, Bucky was there, and his Ma always made a little cake for them to share before she left for work. He knew that she had to work, and that the night of the Fourth was always the busiest for the hospitals, for the Nurses and Doctors.

For the first time in a long time, Steve could breath in the summer air without worrying about not being able to breathe. Steve would be able to watch the fireworks without fear of being caught somewhere that he wasn't supposed to be, (because Bucky just looked for the best spot, not for permission.) Mary had told him that if he looked out towards the water, towards the Bridge to Manhattan, and he would see the best fireworks. She had told him that Central Park, or Times Square would have the best fireworks, but Steve didn't want to break a tradition, something he could hold onto here in this new time, and she smiled and gave him a lawn chair from the storage shed in the back.

Mary and Peter had come over earlier, Peter wanted to make breakfast for Steve, and they spent the morning and some of the afternoon celebrating Steve's birthday. Steve smiled thinking about it; Peter had been so excited, because he got to spend the day with both Steve and his Daddy today. Steve was happy that Tony was finally going to be able to see Peter after a long wait. Maybe now Tony wouldn't be sitting at the playground all the time, and could pick Peter up from school.

Steve had been a little worried that someone would keep seeing him and think that maybe he was some kind of creep, or stalker. He'd sit with Tony sometimes, too, just trying to make conversation, and then he was left with too many judgmental thoughts about Stark. What kind of man puts himself, and his workers under the spotlight for so long? Just to be stubborn? It was selfish, and there were so many ways that Anthony Stark could have gone around the conflict to end it sooner. Steve sighed a little, reaching down into the little Styrofoam cooler and pulled out a water.

The firework were about to start, and he was not going to spend the rest of his birthday thinking about Howard Stark's son. He had to find a place to hang the drawing that Peter had made for him, and he would break into the movie kit that Mary had put together for him. She had given him a plastic bowl that was supposed to be for popcorn, showed him microwave popcorn, ("No it is not cheating, Steven Rogers, it's just faster than the old fashioned way on the stove, get used to it."), and then had given him several movies that were on his list to watch. When Peter wasn't looking she had put a pack of beer in his fridge, some different local homebrews she told him, and a bottle of wine. She regularly kept his freezer stocked with ice cream, and warned him that a couple of movies might have him getting in touch with his inner woman, and he could probably demolish a pint of ice cream easily. Steve just raised a skeptical eyebrow at her.

"I've seen your music playlist, Rogers," Mary pointed at him.

"There's a lot of music to catch up on," Steve defended quickly. He was still learning!

The first fireworks started to go up and Steve's attention was brought back to the present. He let a smile cross his face as others joined in, a symphony of color in the sky. He was glad that Mary had suggested that he bring up a radio at the same time, as well. The pops and bangs of the fireworks could have easily dragged him into war-time memories. He was determined to enjoy his birthday.

* * *

 **October 2010**

Steve was outside, raking the leaves from the lawn as Mary and Peter returned from their day of errands. He knew that Peter's birthday was coming up in a just a couple of days, and Mary said that her parents were going to be flying over from California to surprise Peter, and she was running around trying to make things perfect. Steve chuckled when he saw Mary pulling several bags of groceries from the trunk of her car, and Peter was trying to climb inside to get to what Steve could only assume was his favorite snacks. He did it every time.

Steve put the rake against the closest tree and went over to help Mary, taking a load of bags from her hands. Mary gave him a smile then wrapped his arms around Peter's middle and pulled him out of the trunk, a box of fruit snacks in his hands. "Looking good, Pete," Steve said when he saw the little boy with the smug look, his treasure in his hands. He had a new haircut, the shaggy curls gone, and now sporting a shorter, spikier look.

"Daddy picked me up while Mama did the boring food shopping," Peter proclaimed, smiling at Steve. "We got matching haircuts!"

"He's going to up looking like Tony's little twin in no time," Mary said as she put Peter down on his feet, slipping the box of snacks from his hands. Peter looked up at her with a pout, until he noticed that Mary was opening the box, pulling out one little pouch and handing it to him. He beamed a grin at her, giving the expected 'Thank You', before ripping into it. "Tony has a business function tonight, and apparently he remembered me saying that Peter needed a haircut soon, so he picked him up on the way."

Steve also knew that it was going to be Tony that was going to meet with Mary's parents tomorrow, so that Peter would be surprised when they showed up. He thought it was a little odd that Tony was going through the trouble to take care of Mary's parents, even going so far as to put them up in a hotel himself, just for Peter. Maybe it wasn't odd, maybe he was just surprised that Mary's parents accepted Tony so willingly as well. Sometimes, Steve had his mind still set in the 40's.

"Daddy says I'm going to be smart, just like him," Peter said conversationally, concentrating on his fruit snacks as the three of them headed towards the apartment building. "I already jumped two grades, and Daddy says he jumped school grades all the time." Peter was already in third grade, and keeping up just fine, and there was no doubt that he was a gifted little boy. "I don't think I wanna go as fast as Daddy did, though."

"Why's that, bud?" Steve asked as he held the door open for the him and Mary.

"Well, then I wouldn't be in the same class as Wade," Peter said first, and Mary and Steve rolled their eyes a little. Peter and Wade were nigh inseparable, specially during the summer. Steve was shocked that neither of them had gotten hurt when they played together. "And Daddy was still a teenager when he went to college." Steve raised an eyebrow. "I like school, I don't wanna go through that much."

Something about Peter had said, about his Dad's schooling, it struck a chord in Steve. It was odd, but it was something he had recently read, wasn't it? Now Steve needed to get back to his apartment. He could just be overreacting, or perhaps there was something about the puzzle of Peter's Dad that was slotting into place.

"Heaven forbid you and Wade should not go to the same school," Mary said, taking her key out to open the door to the apartment. Peter pushed the door open, smiling up at her, before taking off his jacket. "You can just put those bags on the table, Steve, thanks."

"No problem," Steve nodded, putting the groceries on the table. Peter had already wandered into the kitchen, ready to help Mary with the groceries. He was well trained on chores. "If you need anymore help let me know, I've gotta check something back at the apartment."

"Go on," Mary waved her hand. "No need for you to help us with groceries," she chuckled. Steve gave her a smile and waved to Peter before heading back over to his apartment, the leaves forgotten outside.

Steve knew he had just read about someone finishing school at a young age, and he knew that it would be a long jump between that person and Peter's Dad, but something was urging to double check the facts. His laptop was at the table and he sat down, opening it up and watching it load. He had been int he process of transferring his handwritten notes to the computer, hoping it would make it easier for him to find certain facts, like what he was looking for.

As he opened the text files with his notes, he watched recent news pop up to the side. It had been an automatic feature that Mary had set up for him, to keep him updated on the world now, so he could compare and contrast the past as he learned it to what was happening now.

 **'Tony Stark Attends Clean Energy Gala Tonight'**

Nothing about the article should have caught Steve's attention, but it did, and he clicked on it. Maybe it was because of the name Tony, and he didn't like to refer to Stark as Tony, as it would mix him up with Peter's father.

'Former CEO of Stark Industries, Tony Stark, will attend the Fifth Annual Clean Energy Gala in New York City, tonight for the first time. It's the first public move that Stark has made in what experts believe to be one of the new directions of SI. Others think that he's trying to clean up his image from last May's incident in Monaco.'

The article went on, but what caught Steve was the picture they had caught of Stark. It was dated today, just an hour ago, when the article was posted. He had been caught coming out tailor's shop, a suit bag over his arm, his driver ahead of him to get the door for his boss. What drew his eye was the haircut that looked familiar now, that was obviously new, and the sunglasses that Stark wore. He had seen those sunglasses, many times.

'It's rumored that Stark will be attending alone tonight, with current CEO, Virginia "Pepper" Potts, still in California. Seeing the Stark name at a Clean Energy function is a far cry from the Weapons Galas he was attending just a few years ago.'

The thing about sunglasses in the 21st century, Steve had come to find out while on an information gathering mission with Mary, is that there are either too many of the same pair, or custom ones for various celebrities, those of importance. This statement could be true for just about anything, but this particular mission, (to get Steve's feet wet with SHIELD), it was easier for them to track the targets purchases, and that included what Steve thought was too many sunglasses. He had seen hundreds of them that day, and now Steve recognized the logo on the side of the sunglasses that Stark was wearing in the picture.

Steve had more research to do, he had to be certain on his thoughts, and not that he was jumping to conclusions.

* * *

Tony adjusted his sunglasses a little, waiting on the tarmac by the car as the jet landed. It had been a while since he had seen Mary's parents, and her mother still gave him the evil eyes, but he could not appear to be nervous in front of them. Only the Fitzpatrick's could make him forget that he was the great Tony Stark. To them, he was just the man that had made their daughter pregnant, and had a hand in Peter's life. Mary's Dad kind of liked him though.

The door to the jet opened as the steps were pushed up and secured. Mary's mother, Rachel, stepped out first, followed by William, and Tony started walking forward to greet them. Rachel looked at him, but accepted his offered hand to shake, followed by William.

"It's nice to see you both again," Tony said, giving them a smile.

"Good to see you, too," Mr Fitzpatrick said, smiling back. "Thanks for the ride, Tony."

"Ah, well," Tony shrugged a little, putting his hands in his pockets. "The jet was in California, and the pilot hasn't been flying Pepper very often, so I wanted to give him a job." He knew that the pilot, and co-pilot, both had families, and while they did make a salary, Tony liked to give them bonuses for last minute flights. Such as this one. "I hope you don't mind, but I moved your lodgings from the hotel that Mary told you about, to the Manor. Peter and Mary are coming over tonight, and Peter's going to spend the night, so I thought it would be a nice surprise for him."

"We don't want to intrude," William started, but Tony waved a hand. He started to lead them to the town car that was waiting.

"It's not intruding. We know that you guys weren't able to be here for Peter's last birthday, so we wanted to surprise him this year." Tony opened the door for them, letting the couple get in first, before climbing in and sitting across from them. "I know that Peter's going to be ecstatic to see you both."

"Hope you aren't spoiling him, too much," Rachel said as the car started to move. "He's a sweet and well-behaved boy." Mary's mother never made it a secret that she didn't exactly approve of Tony, specially since she was used to seeing the playboy that Tony used to be before Iron Man.

"He's still very well-behaved," Tony said before William could say anything to his wife. Tony needed to prove to her that he was at least a little bit competent. "Mary keeps me in check as well, but when I have Peter we still have chores and rules at the house. His homework comes first, but he also knows that he can ask me for help if he's having trouble with it. I've only had to punish him twice, and I didn't like it all, but I also didn't leave it for Mary to handle when she picked him up." Tony cleared his throat a little, leaning back into the seat. "I'm not the parent that Mary is, but I love Peter, but know that I am still his parent."

There was a beat of silence in the car as they drove, Mrs Fitzpatrick eyeing Tony. "So, can I assume that we'll be having Peter's favorite for dinner tonight?" William asked, smiling. Tony couldn't help but smile back before nodding.

Peter being excited to see his grandparents was probably an understatement. When Mary and Coulson came over with Peter, the little boys eyes had widened, and he was over to where the couple were in a second, jumping up into his Granpa's arms. This would be the first time that Mary's parents were meeting Coulson as well, and Tony was staring at him, a little wide eyed himself.

"Agent," Tony said after Peter ran over to his surprise. "I wasn't aware that you owned anything that was a black suit and a white shirt." Coulson was dressed in khaki's and a dark blue sweater, wearing glasses that Tony had never seen before.

"I'm not an Agent all the time," Coulson told him, a little smirk on his lips.

"You could also try calling him by his first name," Mary told him, again.

"But, Agent is his first name," Tony said with complete innocence. He secretly loved doing this with Mary, he had to give her a hard time about Coulson, but they all knew it was in jest. "But, seriously, Agent, good luck meeting the parents tonight. Her Mom is a firecracker."

"I didn't get her daughter pregnant," Coulson said, a smile on his face, looking a little smug in Tony's direction. "I don't think I'm going to have the same problems as you."

Tony blinked. "Ouch, that's a new level of sass. That one might have actually hurt me."

"Be sure to record this, Jarvis," Mary said, trying not to laugh.

"Har har." Tony let out a little huff of air through his nose. "Well, I'll let you introduce the boyfriend, and I'm going to run downstairs real quick." He looked at Mary, tapping the arc reactor a little. "Won't be but a couple minutes."

"Left you a present downstairs as well," Coulson told him as Tony started to walk off.

Tony raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't stop, another depleted core was calling his name, and a refill on his very unflavorful, life-saving, green liquid. Tony took his time going down the stairs, feeling a bit of the fatigue starting to hit him. He'd need to conserve what he had until the new core kicked in, which would probably be int he middle of dinner.

As Tony walked through the doors to his workshop, he raised an eyebrow at the three crates that were sitting on the floor. He walked over to the his desk, grabbing a new core first, never taking his eyes off the gray crates. They looked old, a bit dusty, probably hadn't been opened in about a decade. Tony grabbed the glass of chlorophyll from the desk, taking a long drink, as he walked over to inspect them. He swallowed, then almost coughed the liquid back up when he saw what was printed on the crates. **'Property of H. Stark.'**

Why in the hell would Coulson bring him some of Howard's stuff? And stuff that Tony hadn't known about, at that. Maybe it was Howard's research on Project Rebirth. Now that was something that Tony wanted no part of. Instead Tony turned and lifted up his shirt, looking at his reflection in the glass. The black lines were spreading, becoming more complicated, climbing up his chest, reaching out towards his shoulders, creeping every closer to his neck. He wasn't going to be able to hide the lines for long.

"Sir?" Jarvis asked int he silence of the room, watching his creator investigate the damage of the arc reactor. "If I may, perhaps it is time to make a phone call?"

Tony let out a little sigh, letting his shirt drop back down. Jarvis was right, he usually was. It had been six months since he had discovered the palladium poisoning, but he believed tho have contracted symptoms all the back before Christmas. "Start tracking his location, J. Let me know the second you have a contact number, unless it's during dinner."

"I would not jeopardize you so in front Miss Parker's parents," Jarvis told him. Good Guy, Jarvis. Tony smiled at the thought. The man that Tony wanted to talk to would take more than a couple of hours to contact, of that he was certain, but it would be better to start now.

* * *

Steve waited for Mary, after dropping Peter off at Wade's house, wanting to catch her alone. A week after his initial search, he had the proof he needed, and now he needed to talk to Mary. Waiting int he hall, he caught her eye and motioned to his apartment. She raised an eyebrow, but followed him over, shutting the door.

"You look like something's troubling you," Mary commented as she looked at Steve, standing just inside the living room, his arms crossed over his chest. Troubling was not the word she would use, but she didn't know what was going to happen.

Steve Rogers seething with anger was not even close to what she had expected. "Were you ever going to tell me who Peter's father was? That all this time Howard Stark's son has been coming around?" Steve knew that he was probably overreacting a little, but he'd been awake for almost a year now. After getting what he could from his own searches, and from Howard's file, he had gone to SHIELD, and had gotten some unexpected help from Natasha Romanoff. She was undercover as Tony Stark's PA Steve had found out then, and it was obvious that she knew about Peter. It wasn't Mary that had told her either though.

"No," Mary said and Steve blinked. He had been ready for excuses right away, not the straight look and confident denial. "I was wondering how long until you would figure it out, but no." She shook her head. "It wasn't pertinent to the information that you would need after waking up, or working for SHIELD."

"But he works for SHIELD," Steve said, picking up a folder from the coffee table. Romanoff had gotten him a copy of Tony Stark's file from the SHIELD database. When he looked at the picture inside, he couldn't believe that it had taken him this long to figure it out. He should have been paying more attention.

"No, he's a consultant," Mary said, now crossing her arms over her chest. "He's not an Agent, and he doesn't go on missions. He was brought in under the supervision of Coulson and Director Fury. I wasn't working for SHIELD until they were already trying to make contact with him."

"It doesn't change the fact that all of this was hidden from me," Steve argued, frowning at her.

"What would the knowledge of his identity changed, Steve?" Mary stared him down. "You wouldn't have told him who you were, and you couldn't talk to him about the only shared subject that you two have. And I'll tell you, even if you had tried to talk to him about Howard, he would have made sure that you never had the opportunity to open your mouth around him again."

"Howard Stark is the other half of Project Rebirth," Steve started to say. "He's the one who created my shield."

"And you weren't around when he eventually married, and had a son," Mary countered. "That Howard was older, and had seen more, then when you knew him." Mary stepped closer to Steve, and it was clear now why she was trusted to be Steve's Handler. It didn't matter that she was several inches shorter than Steve, she held herself better than several Generals that Steve had known in the Army. "If you read the files, then you know that Tony was also only Fourteen years old when he lost his parents, so I'm not sure what exactly you and Tony would be reminiscing about. Tony was born thirty years after you went down in the ice. Had knowing who Tony was had become necessary information for you to know, then I would have told you." Mary met Steve's narrowed gaze with her own.

"It doesn't change the fact that you went out of your way to keep it from me," Steve said to her. He recalled Mary's words every time Peter had spouted out some random fact about his Dad. "you would say that he worked for Stark, that he was doing projects with him. You tried to mislead me from him."

"And that was out of my own pure selfish need." Mary growled out. "I know Tony's past, I know the personal details, you don't-"

"Through no fault of my own!"

"-and I was trying to protect him, not you!" Steve blinked a little at Mary's choice of words. "Until the time that you decide on whether or not Captain America still exists, he is not going to know your true identity. And neither is Peter. The boy has a looser mouth than his father," Mary muttered the last sentence, before looking back at Steve. "If there is going to be a problem with this new revelation that you've uncovered, then I want to hear about it now. I'll find you a new place to live, and I'll keep you out of Tony's way. If this is something you can deal with, and not say anything that would make things uncomfortable, then good, we never have to bring this up again."

Steve and Mary looked at each other, her clearly waiting for an answer. Steve licked his lips a little, really thinking about it. She had a point, Steve and Tony weren't going to be having any heart to hearts about Howard, and it was obvious that there were things that happened in Tony's life that Steve didn't know about. Again, not for a lack of trying on his part.

"I don't think that it would be convenient to move," Steve said, a little grudgingly. He didn't want to move away from Peter, because none of this was his fault. Mary nodded at him and took a couple steps back, and he could see when Agent Parker went back to being Mary.

"What I did was personal, and had nothing to do with SHIELD," Mary re-iterated, a bit softer and kinder this time. "People make mistakes, but I stand by my actions." Steve still held respect for her; at least she stood by her decisions. "Whatever your personal thoughts about Tony, as a Stark, are, are yours to keep and work out." Steve nodded. He had a lot of new thoughts about Tony.

"Perhaps there are some that you can answer, though," Steve wondered, looking at her.

"Let me start with some of the first ones that my own parents asked me." Mary shifted her balance to one hip. "No, Tony doesn't pay me off. No, I don't blackmail him to spend time with Peter. No, I'm not in love with Tony Stark, neither is he in love with me. No, he isn't going to leave us."

"How many times did they ask you those questions?" Steve asked her. He had been going to ask a couple of those questions.

"They still ask me those questions," Mary deadpanned. "My mother doesn't particularly like Tony, mostly because he got me pregnant after my husband died." Steve raised his eyebrows a little. "Long story short, I was grieving and wanted to get drunk, Tony just liked getting drunk, and one unfortunately alcohol addled night later, we never saw each other again until I went to tell him about Peter."

"So, when Tony was making the arrangements for your parents to come last week..." Steve asked without asking.

"He did that because he wanted to, and because my mother scares him a little." Mary smirked a little. "He let them stay at his place so he could get time with peter as well. It was nice, because it let Phil and I go out on an actual date without interruptions." Mary's phone went off with a text, and she grabbed it form her pocket. "And speaking of dates, I've got one I need to get ready for. Any other questions you have about Tony, are going to be things that you're going to have to ask him about."

"Without revealing who I am?" Steve raised an eyebrow. Didn't that kind of go against everything she had just scolded him about?"

"Not everything is related to Captain America, or Howard Stark, now is it?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "I trust that you have manners, and tact, enough to figure out a way to talk to him."

Steve hummed and nodded, watching Mary leave his apartment, closing the door quietly behind her. He still thought that Anthony Stark was selfish, but now he had to reconcile the thoughts he had about Stark and Tony into one person. The tough part was going to be not getting angry with him without clearing up Tony's actions with the man himself first.

* * *

"Sir, I have tracked down a secure contact," Jarvis said to Tony as the man worked on the new Mark VII armor. He wanted another suit where he wouldn't have to have a robotic station put the armor on, it would take too long in the heat of battle. The repairs to the Mark V suitcase armor had taken longer than he thought, but the Mark IV armor was completely out of date for his own comfort. The Mark VI armor was still operational, Tony liked having more than one backup.

Tony's head jerked up though at Jarvis's words. "Put the connection through now, J." Tony slid over to his computer station on the stool he was one, watching the screens pop up as Jarvis made the call. He watched the signals bounce across New York, then over seas, over the Atlantic, through the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and eventually over to India.

The static filled ringing ended, and Tony heard the click as the call connected, but no voice answered at first. Tony wasn't surprised. "What are you doing in Calcutta, Brucie-bear?"

There was a little bit more silence, before an answer. "Tony?"

"Were you expecting someone else? Should I be jealous?" Tony put on a pout, even though the man couldn't see him.

"We haven't talked in over five years," the man told him calmly. Tony could hear the background noise of people talking, and horns and cars. Seems he had still called during busy hour in India.

"Yeah, and I would take the blame on that, but not all my fault now is it?" Tony smirked a little at the exasperated sigh. "That's right, when my beloved Science Bro decides to go AWOL without telling me how to contact him, I decide to take only, mmmm, Twelve Percent of the blame."

"Twelve percent? How did you come up with that number?" Bruce Banner shouldn't have asked, he had known Tony for far too long to know better than that.

"Well, I'm not the one who turned into a giant Green Rage-"

"I get it," Bruce cut Tony off quickly.

"Hey, no one's listening in on this call," Tony assured him. "I had Jarvis make the call, and I've made some upgrades to my beloved since we've last talked."

"I can assure you, Dr Banner," Jarvis spoke up then, "that should anyone try to listen in on this call will only hear the very best of the band Milli Vanilli." Tony couldn't help but laugh at the AI's choice of music.

"I'm glad I'm the one getting this call, then," Bruce said, and Tony could practically hear the eye roll. "So, why am I getting this call?"

"If I were anyone else, I would be offended, Bruce," Tony said, putting a hand to his chest. "It would sound like you don't care about me." Bruce just let out a hum and Tony chuckled. "Well, I'd like to ask a personal favor."

"Tony Stark, asking me for a favor?" He had Bruce invested in the favor at least. "Alright, my curiosity is peeked, against better common sense."

"There's no room for common sense in science," Tony threw back jovially. He took a breath and let his serious tone take over. "I really need your help, here, Bruce." Tony pulled out a small silver device from his pocket. He placed his thumb over the little groove and a little needle shot out, taking a sample of his blood. "I think that I may be in over my head, and I'm running out of time." Tony sucked on his thumb and watched the small screen light up with results. "51% Toxicity"

"Running out of time?" Bruce parroted back, but there was a little bit of concern in his voice. "What's going on?"

"I'm sure even you heard about when I went missing in Afghanistan?" Tony didn't want to give a history lesson, but he had to know how much Bruce knew. It wasn't common knowledge that Stony had the arc reactor. He was very good at hiding it from anyone that might have taken pictures, muting the glow with specially designed patches under clothing.

"And then you declared yourself to be a superhero? Yes, that information made it out of the US." Oh good, Bruce knew the basics.

"Remember the giant arc reactor that Howard had built in the California HQ?" Tony had known Bruce since he was just a teen, first meeting him when he was an intern at Stark Industries.

"The one that blew up," Bruce stated, more than asked.

"Okay, well, that's what the Iron Man armor runs off of, Arc Reactor tech," Tony told him.

"That tech can work on something that small?" Bruce asked. The noise was dying down in the background, and Tony assumed that he was heading inside. "Does it charge like a battery?"

"Well, no, not exactly," Tony crinkled his noise a little. "I've miniaturized the arc reactor-"

"And it works?" Bruce was completely involved now. Tony had him hooked in the science department at least, even if it wasn't in his usually field of study.

"Oh, it work," Tony muttered. "It works so well, that's it killing me."

He could hear the frown in Bruce's voice. "It's killing you? How is it killing you? What's it running on? Are you getting radiation waves from it?" That would be Bruce's first guess, but Tony couldn't exactly be surprised from the man that had somehow managed to survive being bathed in Gamma Rays.

"Well, the arc reactor is running off of palladium, and it's implanted in my chest, and it's keeping me alive." Tony rushed everything out at once. "And I need your help trying to find a suitable replacement element."

"I'm not exactly the best person-"

"You're a physicist," Tony argued. "I'm an engineer. Really, I'm lucky to be alive since I've been handling this all by myself."

"You're a genius that could easily be a physicist if he tried," Bruce bounced back.

"You're a genius, too, welcome to the club." Tony leaned his elbows on the computer desk. "Please, Bruce?" He asked quietly. "I got,..." He paused, taking a slow breath. "I got people I don't want to leave behind, and I've been working on this for six months."

"If you've been working on it for six months and haven't gotten anywhere, what makes you think that I'll be able to figure it out?" Bruce was starting to crumble, Tony could feel it.

"Because you'll know what to look for right away, and we'll be working together?" Tony put on a little smile. "It'll be a Science Bros reunion, you and me."

"Last time I was there-"

"Yeah, I know, I heard all about it." Tony had donated to the clean up, and subsequently kept military eyes off of Bruce long enough for him to make his escape. Brice didn't need to know that though. "I can get you in without anyone seeing, and I've got a place for you to stay where no one will even suspect you to be."

"Aren't you in New York?" Bruce asked, hesitation and uncertainty in his voice.

"Yes, yes I am," Tony nodded. "In fact, I'm at the old Manor, so you already know that there's plenty of room for you here. J's got this place on lock down. So what do you say?"

Tony heard Bruce sigh. Heard him sigh about four times in fact. It took Bruce Banner exactly Three minutes and Twenty-Three seconds to make a decision. "Alright. I'll come as soon as I can."

* * *

 **February 2011**

"As soon as I can" turned out to be nearly four months later. In that time, Tony managed to get the entire shell of Stark Tower built, and was working on the wiring of each floor as contractors finished putting in the walls. The Stark Expo had gotten enough presentations for the first four months when it opened, and as soon as the rest of the snow melted, crew would be out there cleaning up the Flushing Gardens space, preparing pavilions and booths, getting ready for a late Spring opening.

Tony spent Christmas Eve with Mary and Peter, and had flown Mary's parents back up for Christmas Day. Pepper had him booked for New Year's with doing press work for the Stark Expo, and dancing around what the Stark Tower was supposed to be. He promised that it be unveiled at the Stark Expo.

Surprisingly though, Tony hadn't had a lot of interaction with The Neighbor. Maybe because it was winter? Maybe because SHIELD was actually using the man for missions now? Tony wasn't sure, but he rarely saw him when picking up and or dropping of Peter now, and never saw him outside the apartment building either. When Tony mentioned the sidewalks and parking lot being cleared of snow, Mary had mentioned that Steve woke up early on those days to get the sidewalks for everyone, before continuing his crazy need to go for a morning run. Tony would deny it until he was blue in the face that he didn't spend any extra time thinking about The Neighbor. Good thing he stay in his lovely state of denial.

"You've got this on lock down?" Tony jumped at the sound of a new voice in his workshop, hitting his head on the chest piece of the Mark VII armor. He turned around, hand on his head, until he saw Bruce standing there, large hiking backpack on his shoulder, couple of duffle bags in his hands.

"Brucie-bear!" Tony grinned, running over to the man, hugging him, making the man uncomfortable with all the stuff he was still holding. "You've let your hair grow out, I like it."

"Finding a barber is less of a priority when you're traveling the world," Bruce said, smiling a little when Tony let go. "I do have half a mind to let you die to heavy metal poisoning now, though." Tony frowned at him, and Bruce raised an eyebrow. "The SHIELD Agent that picked me up?"

"Agent?" Now Tony was raising his eyebrow. Coulson was with Mary today, and he had sent Natalie to go pick up Bruce. No one knew that Bruce was even coming except for him and Jarvis.

"The red head." Tony's face dropped, and now Bruce's eyebrows went up. "You didn't know she was SHIELD?"

Tony took a deep steadying breath, before clenching his jaw, anger burning through his body more than the palladium did. "Jarvis," Tony growled a little, heading over to his computer. "Get Mary on the phone, now." Bruce put his bags down by the door, deciding to walk around Tony's workshop while he talked to whoever he had to.

The phone rang through the workshop until Mary picked up. "Tony?"

"Lucy, you've got some 'spalinin to do," Tony growled out a little.

"What are you talking about?" Mary sounded confused, and Tony tried not to snort.

"The stunning, yet deadly, SHIELD Agent that's been acting as my PA?" Tony should have been more suspicious when the PA took down happy in the boxing ring barely paying any attention. "I'm kind of impressed that you guys managed to work her in for so long without me noticing. They couldn't just have asked you to report back to them?"

"I wouldn't have done that to you, Tony," Mary said, and Bruce looked over at him. It had been a while since anyone other than Pepper called Tony with such familiarity. "I try not to bring my work home with me, and I've made it clear that I won't do any missions where you're involved without your knowledge."

"So, you had no idea about this Natalie? I assume that isn't her real name," Tony snorted a little. "She's fired, by the way."

"I didn't assign her, but I'm pretty sure you can't fire her right now," Mary said, with a roll of her eyes. "She's working with Pepper, as well."

"All the more reason to get her out." Tony rubbed his face with his hands. "I'm not part of one SHIELD's missions, Mary! And I don't want SHIELD getting involved in stuff they shouldn't know about!"

Tony could hear her frown as she responded. "And what are you doing that you don't want them to know about? Is it something that you don't want me to know about? Do I need to be concerned, again?"

"I'm trying to work on the arc reactor." Tony's fingers started to drum against the desk in annoyance. "But the way I work on it needs to be my way, and I won't have SHIELD in my business if I don't want them, too."

"Tony, I can't understand your anger if you don't tell me what's wrong." Tony hated when she spoke calmly, like when she was speaking to an upset Peter. He hated it because it worked sometimes. "How did you find out the plant?"

"Because someone else told me, and don't I feel like the fool now." Tony blew out some breath. "You swear you didn't assign her to me?"

"I told you, I'm not involved that anything that might have to do with you, unless you're directly involved as well. It just doesn't seem right." He heard Mary give a little sigh and he nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

"Get her assigned to Pepper if you can't get her reassigned, but tell them I no longer need a PA." Tony walked away from the computer station, over to where Bruce was inspecting the different Iron Man armors on display. He punched in a code and the glass lifted up from all the spots to let him get closer. "speaking of missions, is your Neighbor taking more missions now? Haven't seen him in a while."

"Do you really want to ask me that, Tony?" She asked a little coyly, and Tony instantly started to shake his head.

"Nope, in fact, forget I mentioned it." Bruce raised an amused eyebrow at him.

"So, do I have to act as your PA for now?" Mary asked, unaware that Tony was narrowing his eyes at the older scientist as Banner smirked. "Not that Jarvis doesn't already share your calendar with me."

"Is there something that I'm going to miss?" Tony asked her, looking away from Bruce.

"You haven't forgotten Friday night, have you?" She asked. Jarvis brought up a small calendar in front of Tony, but he swiped it away before Bruce could look at it.

"Nope, I sure haven't," Tony responded quickly. "I'll be there in blue, and bells. Well, maybe not bells, I don't wanna steal the show."

"I'm glad that you're able to learn this lesson for one night," Bruce whispered, and Tony wished he were closer so he could elbow him.

"I'll be sure to remind you, just in case," Mary continued, not having heard Bruce.

"Sounds like a plan. Now, go do Agent-y things, with Agent, and get SHIELD off my back. Bye." He made a motion and Jarvis cut the call. Bruce was smiling at him, the fact that SHIELD probably knew where he was now mostly forgotten.

"Tony Stark, have you settled down?" Bruce asked, and Tony launched himself for a trash can, pretending to wretch.

"Gross, Banner, how could you even suggest that?" Tony stood back up, leaning against a table. "No, that is not a girlfriend, a wife, fiance, any of that stuff. She's a friend."

"Sounds like a pretty close friend," Bruce commented, walking around the workshop again, headed towards Tony's computers. "Like a female Rhodey. How is Rhodey?"

"Practicing in one of my Iron Man suits, probably." Tony brushed off the Mark IV armor a little before closing the glass doors again. "Had to make a deal with the military before they broke down the doors. But, only Rhodey can use the suit, so I feel moderately okay about that."

"Is this Mary?" Tony's head whipped around and he saw Bruce holding up a picture. It was a picture of the three of them on the roof on the Fourth of July, fireworks behind them. "Cause, if this isn't settled down, then apparently I have the wrong idea."

Tony groaned a little. "Well, there goes the surprise." He rubbed his face a little and walked over to Bruce. "Yeah, that's Mary there, but we're not a thing. Like I said, we're friends, who also happen to be co-parents?" Bruce raised his eyebrows, again, at Tony. "That's our son, Peter. He turned six last October."

Bruce studied Tony for a few moments, and he shuffled his foot a little. "I can see it, that's what's changed since last we spoke. You've taken on the responsibility of fatherhood."

"Ugh, that makes me sound so, domestic." Tony moved his mouth, sticking his tongue out like there was something on it. "that's such an ugly word."

"You keep a picture of your kid at your desk, Tony," Bruce said, looking at him over his glasses. "You've got it bad, you've got fatherhood."

"Well, you've discovered my secret," Tony said, nodding like it all made sense. He let out a little sigh, letting a warm smile curve on his lips. "That's my kid, and he's sharp as a whip, let me tell you. He's already in third grade, going for my record, but he doesn't want to skip anymore grades. He's got good friends, and would you believe it, he's well-behaved. Does his chores and everything."

Bruce smiled at Tony, watching him go on about Peter. Tony stopped and looked at the other scientist. "What?"

"When we spoke, you said you had people." Bruce held up the picture a little. "You mean, your son, you wanted help, so you can be around for your son."

Tony bit his bottom lip a little and nodded. "Yeah, I mean," Tony sighed. "Yeah." He lifted up his t-shirt to show Bruce what was going on on his chest. Bruce entered Scientist mode and leaned in, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "These didn't start until last spring, and I've been able to hold off some the spread-"

"Chlorophyll?" Bruce asked automatically, and Tony nodded.

"But I'm really pushing how much I need to drink." Tony and Jarvis had raised the dose again last week, but Tony was starting to get more headaches, and getting dizzy again. "Jarvis, bring up the work we've already done. Show Bruce the elemental test we've already done."

"Of course, Sir." Blue holographic screens popped up behind the computers and Bruce walked over to study the notes.

"SHIELD brought over some of Howard's old stuff, and I've been slowly going through that." Tony motioned over to the crates in the back of the workshop, one of them not opened. "Apparently he was a founding member of SHIELD, so there's that."

"Do you think there's going to be something in there that might be able to help?" Bruce asked, moving over to the next screen, going over the combinations that had failed as suitable replacements for palladium.

"Well, there's a note in there from the Director, Fury. Says that Howard thought I was the only one with the means and know-how to finish what he started." Tony wrinkled his nose a little, thinking about the note.

"To finish what?" Bruce looked over, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I don't know, I'm assuming the arc reactor technology." Tony shrugged. He hated spies being spies, never just saying what they were thinking. "I haven't been able to pull anything from his notebooks, though, nothing that I didn't already know."

"We should go through the rest of it, then," Bruce said as he walked over to the crates.

"You just want to jump right into work?" Tony said, watching the man. "You don't want anything to eat? For me to show you where your room is?"

"You'll show me later, anyway," the older man said with a shrug. "And all I need is some tea right now, and I'll be good for a few more hours."

"Is tea how you keep the big guy down?" Tony smirked when Bruce looked over at him. "I always thought it was a big bag of weed."

"I'm not going to help you if you try to get the other guy to come out." Tony smiled, but made a motion of zipping his lips. "And when this is all over, I wanna meet your kid."

"I thought you'd never ask!" Tony smiled. "I get to pick him up from school today, and he'll be eating dinner here. I can't wait to introduce him to Uncle Bruce."

"Uncle Bruce?" Bruce raised an eyebrow. "We haven't seen each other in five years."

"And?" Tony walked over and helped Bruce take the top off the unopened crate. "Uncle Bruce, I do believe that we have work to do."

Bruce looked through the crate and pulled out a couple of old film reels. "At least we'll have entertainment while we do it."

"You say entertainment," Tony said looking at the film reels, "and I'm thinking childhood memories."

"Never know until we look. Jarvis, where is a projector we can use?" Bruce asked, putting the film reels on a chair nearby.

"If you'll follow the lights in the ceiling, I can direct you to one, Dr Banner." A couple of the lights above the lab door started to flash, and Bruce followed them. Tony watched him go, and flopped down into one of the chairs by the crate. He closed his eyes and took a breath. He had been beginning to lose hope that Bruce would ever be able to make it, and that if he did he would be too late. There was still that possibility, but Tony wasn't going to give up yet, not just yet.

Tony had pulled out a few more personal notebooks of Howard's, and was flipping through them, looking at random equations, drawings of a cube, when Bruce returned with a film projector. It was set up, and within fifteen minutes they were watching a old reel of the Stark Expo. Maybe Tony could use this, drum up the public support. He'd use the complete version of course, but he could use this stuff.

Both men were barely paying attention when it happened. "Tony?" Tony's head whipped up at Howard's voice. "You're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you." Tony frowned, leaned forward in his seat a little, vaguely aware of Bruce doing the same besides him. "I built this, for you." On film, his dad motioned towards the model of what was now the Stark Expo. "And someday you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represent my life's work. This is the key to the future." Was his dad really trying to tell him that the Stark Expo was the legacy he wanted Tony to live up, too? "I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is, and always will be, my greatest creation, is you."

Tony took a slow breath as the film reel ran out of tape. He slumped back against his chair, warring with the thoughts, and heaven forbid, feelings inside of him from the film. "What the hell was that supposed to mean?" Tony breathed out, throwing the journal in his hand onto a table. "Was that supposed to help, because-"

"Sir, if you are to pick up Young Master on time, I would suggest leaving soon," Jarvis interrupted Tony's incoming tirade. Bruce was silently grateful, and he thought that maybe the AI knew what was coming. Tony blew out a breath through his mouth and nodded.

"You wanna stay here, or go with?" Tony asked Bruce as he got up from his chair.

"I'll stay here, go through some more stuff. I'm thinking it's probably not a good idea for me to be showing my face a lot right now, anyway," Bruce said as he cleaned his glasses.

"I'll be back with the little tyke. You're gonna love him," Tony said, the thought of Peter enough to make him start grinning.

"I'm sure I will," Bruce said chuckling. "Go on, don't be late to get your kid." Tony gave Bruce a mock salute and hurried out of the workshop.

It didn't take Peter long to warm up to Bruce, both of their shy natures recognizing each other, and then being combined with Tony's outgoing nature. They were working on dinner together in no time, the six-year-old asking Bruce all the questions in the world. Tony grinned, watching them, letting Bruce make something that he picked up from his world travels, the world travels that had encompassed Peter's attention.

Tony took the distraction to quietly slip away, and back down to the workshop. He locked the door, frosting the glass, and walking towards the back, taking a seat in one of the leather chairs. "Jarvis, set a recording, please." A screen popped up in front of him, showing him recording options, and an image of himself.

"So, it's the end of February, Twenty Eleven, but I'm sure that Jarvis will have marked that in the file. This is, kind of a last minute decision, and since I'm basically talking to myself down here, it's kind of weird, and irking me out a little." Tony gave a little chuckled, looking down at his hands. "It's easier with an audience, because all you have to do shower them with pretty words, shiny things, and put on a show, but that's not what I'm doing down here." Tony looked up at the screen. "Right now, you're six, Peter, and you're upstairs with who I hope becomes one of your favorite Uncles, right next to Rhodey, Uncle Bruce. He's a Science Bro, and he'll be able to teach you so much more than I could, or can, depends on how this goes. I've been down here int he workshop going through some my Dad's old stuff, and for once he touched on an idea that could have possibly meant more, but I'm gonna take his idea. Recording myself, all the things that I hope I've said to you, and all the things that I might not have been able to say to you, hopefully yet."

Tony took a breath and sat up a little straighter. "If you ever internet search me, I'm gonna prepare you for what you're going to find. I'm sure there are going to be a lot of people who will try to tell you all about me as well, you know, when the press finds out about you. I did not make a lot of friends in my time. And the whole press thing? Your Mama and I thought it would be best if no one outside of our friends and family knew about you, because you're too young to get pestered by nosey assholes. Sorry if it made things worse when the eventual reveal happens. I've got Pepper updating my will to put you and your Mama in it, so, it's eventually going to happen."

"Sir, you've gotten off track," Jarvis gently reminded him.

"Thanks, J, whatever would I do with out you?" Tony smiled a little. "Jarvis is going to be your greatest asset, Petey, mark my words. Anyway, yeah, so when I was younger I didn't exactly make the best of choices, and I just want you to avoid making those same mistakes. I made my choices because of how I grew up, and I've tried to make it so that you didn't go through that, so this could be a warning track for absolutely nothing. I wanted to rebel, so I did a lot of, er, questionable things. Drinking, a few drugs, and just don't, don't even try that stuff, it is not worth it, trust me. And yeah, I slept around a lot, but I like to think that I wasn't an asshole about it. I don't remember a lot of it.

"Oh, but let you me tell you, the day I'll remember most, was when your Mama brought you to me, came and said, 'Hey, we have a son together.' I'll admit, at first I was ready to throw some money at her, but then she pulled this tricky spy move, and suddenly there's a baby Peter in my arms, and your hand was on mine, and that little adult voice inside of me woke up and pointed out that I would be a fool to not be around. The first two years I didn't change too much, at least I don't think so, but your Aunt and Uncles might say different. But then, some bad guys got me, taking advantage of my naivety, and I got this," Tony tapped the arc reactor in his chest. "For some reason, you like this, and you're the only one who can touch it. Anyone else gets near it, I freeze up, get panicky, want to lash out, but not you. I feel calm when your little hand rests over it." Tony let out a breath, leaning back in the chair.

"I wish I could have spent more time with you," Tony said, looking down a little. "Wish I would have thought more about it when I announced I was Iron Man, but who knows if it would have made a difference. Every time I did something though, I drew attention to myself, and I ended up hurting you. I couldn't come and see you, had to wait for everything to die down, and I hated that. "You lived with your Mama, and she did all the hard work. Go easy on her as you grow up, she's an amazing person, one of the best friends that I've ever known, and the best mother I've ever seen. "Wish I could have taught your more, held you more, told you I loved you more. I'm still a selfish man, and sometimes I still think of myself. I'm really not a good role model, but I tried to change enough."

Tony's fingers tapped against the arc reactor and he stared off to the side for a second. "If you're watching this, and I'm not somewhere still around, then, I'm sorry." He looked back over at the screen, and he tried to ignore that his eyes looked a little shinier. "I'm sorry if it was the palladium, sorry that I didn't ask for help sooner, sorry that I didn't tell someone sooner. I'm sorry if I put myself in front of danger, again, but I have a weird sense of, well, no self-preservation that's still hard to push past. I just want to make things perfect for you, for you to not inherit my enemies, to be safe even if I'm not around. But, if you're watching this, and I'm around, probably down in the workshop, depending on how old your are, I give you full permission to go find me, and smack me. Cause seriously, I should have told someone for all the times I was dying, especially right now."

"Daddy! Come get food!" Peter's voice called through the hallway to the workshop, and Tony smiled.

"That's you, obviously. Listen to how cute you sound. But seriously, if I'm not around, listen to your Mama, and your Aunts and Uncles, and your Grandparents, and the Neighbor. Ugh, I can't even say his name now, but he's not exactly talking to me right now. That's if you still see him around, cause I'm sure you won't be spending forever in that apartment." Tony let out a little snort. "No, you'll get this house, the Manor, and the house in Malibu. Talk to your Mama, she'll know what to do, but you'll be able to do whatever you want with the houses. Pepper will take care of the company, so you don't have to worry about that." Peter started to knock at the door. "I love you Peter, so much, and I hope you never doubted that, not for a second." Tony gave one last smile before he stopped the recording and got up. "Save that tot he private server, Jarvis."

"Of course, Sir." Tony smiled a little at Jarvis' voice, and went over, opening the door, catching an arm full of little boy.

"Come on, Daddy," Peter grinned at him. "It's time to eat."

"Alright, let's go." Tony smiled at him, smothering his face in messy kisses, making the little boy squeal and giggle.


	10. May 2011

**A/N: Warning, this Chapter is very long. Longer than when I finished up the first Iron Man movie in story. I got carried away, and kept typing. I was watching Avengers while I was typing up this chapter, so that was guiding me as well. I'm not gonna say too much else, but I hope that you all enjoy this chapter, and no regrets for the longness of this chapter!**

 **I will be posting something later on my tumblr about writing this chapter, and the next one, cause I started to really pour myself into it, and it got interesting.**

 **Unbeta'd, and Marvel owns more of this than I do.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**

* * *

 **May 2011**

Coulson slipped into Mary's office and she glanced up. It wasn't very often that she could be found in her office, because that meant that she actually had to do paperwork, and she didn't really like it. "This doesn't look like a social visit, hunny bunny." Coulson smirked a little at her over-exaggerated pet name for him.

"Unfortunately, we still have a couple hours until end of shift," Coulson took a seat and put the manila folder he had been holding onto on her desk. She took it, flipping it, and opened it, looking at the paper on top. "I can pick up Peter for you from school."

"We were going to watch the Stark Expo opening tonight," she said with a sad wrinkle to her nose. "Seems that's why Fury wanted to do this tonight?"

"The Expo will draw attention from anything that might happen, or be happening." Fury had contacted Coulson directly. Something was happening at their facility that held the Tesseract, and he asked Coulson to get someone to go with him. Maria Hill was already there. Coulson would have gone himself, but Fury said that he wanted him here to hold down the New York office. The next best person would be Mary, of course.

"Steve should be home, maybe the three of you could have a guys night while you watch the opening?" Mary closed the folder. She put her thumb to a lower drawer of her desk, pressing the digit to the fingerprint scanner. The drawer popped open and she slid the folder to the bottom, then pulled out her badge and standard issue weapon.

"I haven't spent time with Peter in a little bit, should be fun." Mary smiled at her boyfriend, leaning over to kiss him quickly.

"You, sir, will like it when I come back from this visit," She smiled at him as they stood up, Coulson grabbing her jacket and handing it to her. "I love it when my man gets along with my son." Coulson smirked and she laughed as they left her office.

* * *

It was something that Tony had seen when he had jumped out of the plane in the Iron Man armor, as he was flying over the Expo. Even with all the people there, but the lights, the lights made it all make sense. He could barely make it back to the Manor fast enough.

"Bruce!" He burst through the door to the workshop, causing Bruce to jump, even though he had known the man was on his way. "Bruce, I figured it out! Where's the model for the Expo?"

"Tony, what are you talking about?" Bruce went over to where Tony was searching through all the stuff they had dug out of the crates. He found the first slot of the old Expo model from the 70's. "Slow down Tony, you used a lot of reactor power with that opening."

"No time! I figured it out!" Tony took a deep breath and after pulling out the second piece he had to sit down. "Okay, so maybe fifteen seconds won't hurt." Bruce pat his shoulder and pulled out the pieces, setting them up.

"What did you see?" Bruce asked as he set up the old model.

"The Expo, the whole thing, it's, it's the answer." Tony tried to explain, sitting back in the chair. "It's like, it's science!"

"Take two seconds to catch your breath," Bruce told him.

"It's an atom!" Tony exclaimed and Bruce blinked. "Jarvis, scan it, project it!" A hologram of the old model rose up from the physical model as Tony pulled himself up and over to the desk. He pulled out his arc reactor, and Bruce moved to pull out a fresh core for him. In the almost three months that Bruce had been at the Manor with Tony they had fallen into a routine with the reactor. Bruce would study the decay of the cores to see how fast they were depleting, and adjust the chlorophyll intake with Jarvis.

As soon as Tony had popped the reactor back into place he was moving over to the hologram. He raised it up and looked at it. "The Unisphere, here," he pointed to the giant globe in the middle, "it's the nucleus." Tony pointed and the center lit up. "Lose the footpaths, the shrubbery, landscaping, all that, parking lots, entrances and exits." Tony flicked his fingers, things disappearing from the model.

"The pavilions," Bruce said, moving forward. "If they're structured just right..." Jarvis started moving things around for them. "Protons and Neutrons."

Tony grinned as it started to come together. He wrapped his hands around the small sphere, the atom, then threw them out, spreading his arms. The two scientists were bathed in a blue glow, Tony grinning. "J?"

"The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium." Tony grinned and pushed on Bruce's arm in excitement. "Unfortunately, it is impossible to synthesize."

"That's what you say." Tony looked at Bruce. "Time to do some heavy lifting."

"Heavy lifting?" Bruce raised his eyebrows. "Aren't you supposed to be doing the unveiling of the Stark Tower concept in, like an hour?"

"I'm sure Pepper-"

"No way," Bruce shook his head. "You have been doing all the heavy lifting, literally, you made that Tower. You've done nothing but go on about it, and you have a concept for the energy, and it Works, Tony."

"But with this new element, I can implement it in the Tower's Arc Reactor, too!" Tony exclaimed. He was antsy, he had something to create! "I can make that one year estimate tenfold, at least!"

"And that's what you need to go and introduce," Bruce insisted. "I can work with Jarvis here, and we make all the necessary calculations, and see what actually needs to be done."

"I would be more than honored to work with Dr Banner," Jarvis spoke up. "I would also inform you that Miss Parker sends word that she will be back after Young Master bedtime, and that he will be watching your presentation tonight." Tony blinked a little. The AI really knew where to strike with using Peter as incentive. "He does love to see you in your element, Sir."

Tony lifted his head, moaning loudly. "I'm being manipulated, very expertly!" Bruce smiled at him. "Alright, you get the pre-work done!" Tony rubbed his hands together. "I think I'll take the new suit with me. I can't be seen showing up in the same outfit." Tony grinned as Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Oh no, that would just be tacky." Tony snorted as Bruce went over to the computers to work with Jarvis.

* * *

Mary followed Fury out of the helicopter, the wheels barely touching down before the Director was already out. Agent Hill was waiting for them, suits and scientist moving quickly. Seemed a full evacuation was already in process.

"How bad is it?" Fury asked Hill as soon as they were within earshot, the three of them moving up the stairs and inside of the facility.

"That's the problem," Hill said. "We don't know, sir." Both Mary and Fury looked at her, eyes narrowing a little as getting an answer they didn't like. They effortlessly moved past all the people moving files and different prototypes out of the building and heading downstairs.

"Dr Selvig read an energy surge from the tesseract four hours ago," Hill continued. "That's when I contacted you, Sir.

"He wasn't authorized for test phase today," Mary said with a frown.

"He wasn't testing it," Maria said grimly. "He wasn't even in the room at the time." A cold tingle ran down Mary's spine at those words.

"What are the energy levels now?" Fury asked.

"Climbing," Hill said simply. "When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered the evac."

"How long to get everyone out?" Fury glanced at the jeeps that were being loaded up already.

"Campus should be clear in the next half hour."

"Do better," Fury told her.

"Sir, evacuation may be futile." They three of them stopped, and Mary and Fury both looked at Agent hill. "If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance."

"I need you to make sure that Phase 2 prototypes are shipped out." This pulled a frown from Hill.

"Sir, is that really a priority right now?" Mary asked before Hill could.

"Until such time as the world ends," Fury stated, looking between the two women, "we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every piece of Phase 2 on a truck and gone." He directed the last part at Hill.

"Yes, sir," Hill said after a second, moving towards the two agents standing by the entrance to Selvig's lab. "With me." They headed off and Fury looked at Mary.

"Stay out here, I know of several people who would rather keep you in one piece, and I want this entrance still guarded, even during an evac," he told her.

"My radio's on, Sir," she told him, nodding. She knew that Fury wouldn't tell her sit out just because Coulson was sweet on her, or because she had a son; he knew that she was as good as, if not better, than most of the SHIELD agents he had.

"Make sure everyone stays on point." She nodded and he headed inside the lab. Mary took a breath and turned around, taking in all the movement around her. Hopefully they would shut this down, get the placed evacuated, and she would be back before morning. It would be Saturday, and that meant pancake day.

Suddenly the entire compound rumbled, shaking her balance, and she reached for her gun. She turned around, glimpsing inside of the lab and saw a bright blue glow from the edges, then silence. The silence set her on edge. Not as much as the resulting explosion and gun fire did though. Mary grabbed her phone, sending an alert to Coulson, and edged inside the lab entryway silently. There wasn't so much noise now, but she could hear soft voices, a male voice, but it didn't sound like Fury, or even Barton.

"-have to get any messier." That was Fury's voice. She stayed just out of side, pistol at the ready, and leaned a little. She could see Fury with a silver case in his hands, meant or the tesseract. Her hairs were starting to stand on end, and she glanced up, seeing the swirl of blue energy at the ceiling. This would be more of Tony's field, or possibly Dr Banner's.

"Of course it does." That was the new voice. She could see a man dressed in dark clothing, leather? Next to him was another Agent, and off to the side was Barton, but he wasn't moving. What was going on? "I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose." The same Loki that Coulson had mentioned when he had come back from New Mexico?

"Loki?" That was Dr Selvig, he still sounded with it, at least not injured. "Brother of Thor?" That answered that question.

"We have no quarrel with your people," Fury spoke up, bringing the attention back to him. Glancing around, she could see that Fury was stalling, but stalling for what?

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot." Looking up she could see the ceiling starting to chip, no, it was more than that, but the structural integrity was being compromised.

"You planning to step on us?" Fury was talking calmly, like he was just negotiating something, not dealing with another Alien.

"I come with glad tidings, of a world made free." The man was moving around the space, going towards Selvig. Why wasn't Clint moving?

"Free from what?"

"Freedom," the man said, still looking at Fury. "Freedom is life's great lie. One you accept that, in your heart," the man paused then whipped around, raising his arm, no, a spear, and placing it on Selvig's chest, "you will know peace." Mary's eyes widened a little when she saw a glow from the spear, then Selvig's eyes turned black, then blue. He was controlling them.

"Yeah, you say peace, I kind of think you mean the other thing." Mary glanced back up at the ceiling, then looked back when she saw Barton moving, finally.

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling." Oh no, not Clint. That's why Barton hadn't been moving, and Mary's hands tightened around her pistol as she heard his voice. She needed to start moving now, make sure no one was in the way if Fury couldn't stop them. "This place is about to blow. Drop a hundred feet of rock on us, he means to bury us." Mary turned on her heel and headed back out of the lab. She drew in a sharp breath when she heard the single gunshot, but didn't stop moving.

They all knew that this was part of the job, that at any moment something could happen, and this was why Fury was Director. He would do whatever it took to keep the danger from reaching topside, to keep the world safe. He knew that, she knew that. She also knew that she had to get out of these as well, to warn people if he couldn't stop it. To get back to Peter, Phil, and Tony. Hopefully by now Phil would have gotten Peter to Tony, and he'd be gearing up Steve.

Mary stopped, looked at the people running towards the trucks, and looked around. No one else was coming, that was good. She turned around and gasped, seeing Barton inches away from her, gun drawn and pointed at her head. She stood absolutely still, letting him take the pistol from her hand, putting it in his own gun holster. The strange man with the spear approached her from the side, but Mary never took her eyes off of Barton's unnatural blue ones.

"Who is this?" He asked in his accent, exhaustion creeping through.

"Agent Mary Parker," Barton responded immediately. He was firmly in Loki's grasp. "SHIELD Handler for one Steven Grant Rogers, aka Captain America. She has a son with billionaire Tony Stark, aka Iron Man."

"He's a scientific genius," Selvig said from behind them. Mary narrowed her eyes at Barton. How dare he put her son in danger like that. "He could possibly have resources that we would be able to use."

"I suggest we keep moving, Sir," Barton said and started to move, forcing Mary to move backwards.

"I can't let you do that, Clint," she said, stopping, not flinching as the cold barrel met her forehead.

"I wasn't asking you." Barton reached out with his other hand, grabbing her arm and used his forward momentum to slide her backwards, sliding his foot behind hers to force her down to the ground. The other Agent with them moved Loki and Dr Selvig forward, towards the trucks. Flipping from her back to her hands, Mary jumped up, then shouted when Barton let off a single shot, a bullet slicing through her calf.

Mary tried to calm her breathing. She need to get up, get out, warn someone. Her radio crackled with static. "Parker! Hill!" Fury! He was still alive. "Do you copy? Barton is-" More gunshots, and the rest of Fury's words were drown out as Hill got the message. "He's got the tesseract! Track it down!"

The building started to rumble again, floor to ceiling, all shaking. The energy was building too much, too fast. She needed to get out. With a shout of pain she pushed herself up, running for the trucks. She could hear crackling behind her, cement starting to break up. There was one sedan, started, but the agent heading for the car had been caught in the crossfire of Barton and Hill. She slid in, gasping, and slammed the car into gear and raced down the tunnel.

Mary wished she would have moved a little faster, or maybe that Fury had been able to stall them a little longer. She thought that hopefully Phil and Steve would help Tony with pancake day, she might have a couple of broken bones after this one. She of course thought of Peter as the cement around the car crackled and fell, blocking the tunnel, instantly stopping the car and slamming her into the airbag with too much force, her vision going black.

* * *

Steve was sitting alert on the couch, a cold chill curling in his gut, moments before all hell broke loose. Peter was sitting in Coulson's lap, they were watching Tony on stage, he was talking about the Stark Tower. Steve personally couldn't stand the building, but that was his bias talking. He had spent the last three actively avoiding Tony Stark, telling himself that he just needed to deal with his thoughts and feelings on the matter. That excuse ran out three weeks after he had confronted Mary.

Tony was a natural showman, that was obvious, and Steve was unable to see this Anthony as the same Tony who was Peter's father, that loved the little boy, and agonized over not being able to him. The business man on stage didn't sound anything close to the man who had anxiety attacks at night about deep dark secrets that he couldn't leave in Afghanistan.

Peter giggled when Tony flashed a grin at the camera, stepping back up to let the suit come back around him. He had created a holographic model of the new Stark Tower on stage, and he would use his theatrics to show it off as he explained it. Tony Stark was very good at his job.

"Daddy said one day, he would take me flying," Peter said with a grin. Steve and Coulson both looked at him. "Mama said that I had to be much, much, much older before that happened."

"Your Mama is a smart woman," Coulson commented. His phone went off, and he ruffled Peter's hair as he transferred him to the couch next to Steve, grabbing his phone from the coffee table. He walked towards the kitchen, and Steve wondered if it was Mary, or SHIELD business.

Iron Man was landing back on the stage, and Steve raised an eyebrow when the stage started to move, platforms rising up, showing what looked to be robots, drones, of some kind. Tony turned to look at them, the audience cheering, thinking it was part of the show. Steve knew better. Mary, and Tony in the press, had made it explicitly clear, Tony didn't make weapons anymore. He looked up the newly branded War Machine, piloted by Colonel Rhodes, touched down on stage next to him. It looked like the two best friends were having a conversation, before suddenly War Machine and the drones all pointed their arms, and weapons, at Tony.

Steve's breath caught in his throat, the cold in his stomach knotting up, and he quickly covered Peter's eyes, much to the boys protest. Tony shot up into the sky a split second before everything was being fired at him.

"Captain." Steve looked over and saw the grim face of Coulson standing there. "Suit up." Steve grit his teeth and nodded. Coulson went over, picking up Peter, who was wiggling around, trying to see the TV, not understanding why they wouldn't let him see his Daddy.

"Phil," Peter whined. "What's going on?" Steve skirted around them, heading quickly for his bedroom, and heard Peter's gasp. "Daddy!" Steve wouldn't let Peter lose Tony, no matter what Steve thought about the man.

He went to grab his uniform and frowned. He still hadn't gotten a replacement uniform after the last mission, this one torn at the arm and the back. He slid his arm into the shield straps though. When he walked out of the bedroom, Coulson was throwing him his car keys. Peter's eyes were glued to the TV screen.

"There's a new uniform in the trunk," Coulson said, somehow knowing exactly what Steve needed. "I think you'll like this one." Steve just raised an eyebrow and nodded, sprinting out the door. With Coulson's car, and breaking several traffic laws, he could get to the Expo in under fifteen minutes.

* * *

Tony tapped on Rhodey's helmet, thanking Agent Romanoff for rebooting War Machine's suit. Jarvis assured him that Coulson was still with Peter, and Bruce was still at the Manor, and so Tony just needed to get rid of this Vanko, again, and he could go home. He'd take Peter to the Tower, to show him, to hopefully distract him from what he hoped he hadn't watched. Peter was his son though, so he had probably seen everything that was being televised.

"Rhodey? Snap out of it, buddy. I need you-" Tony looked around, biting back the gasp of exhaustion that swept through his body. The suit was taking a toll on the arc reactor, and in turn his body. He hope Bruce would have all the calculations done and they could start immediately on the new element for the arc reactor. It could be synthesized by morning, and no one would have to worry any longer. "They're coming."

The suit powered up and the faceplate opened on Rhodey's suit. "Oh man," Rhodey groaned, taking Tony's hand and helping him to his feet. "You can have your suit back."

Tony chuckled a little. "You okay?" He looked around the gardens that they had fallen into, waiting for the rest of the drone to drop in.

"Yeah," Rhodey nodded. "Look, I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Tony waved him off. Why was he sorry?

"I am, the military bullied you into this, and I led the charge," Rhodey explained further.

"Seriously, forget it." Really?

"No, it's your fault, but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

Tony snorted, and smiled a little. "Thank you, that all I wanted to hear." Rhodey held out his hand and Tony took it, shaking it, metal hands clanking. "They're coming in hot, any second. What the play?"

"Well, we want to take the high ground," Rhodey pointed up to the hills. "So let's put the biggest gun up there, on that ridge." Tony nodded and they both headed for the same direction then stopped. "Where are you going?"

"You said-" Tony started, pointing.

"I meant me-" Rhodey continued.

"You have a big gun, you are not the big gun-" Tony was still upset when he learned that they weapons installed were by Hammer, but he knew that Rhodey had been overridden by the military.

"Tony, don't be jealous-" Tony snorted at his words.

"Jealous? No no, I'll never be jealous of HammerTech." Tony looked the suit down, then back up. "Yeah, he destroyed the sleek model I had, completely not jealous."

"You gave free range to-"

"I didn't think that they would murder my baby-"

"Your baby?" Before they could continue their argument they heard the jets of the approaching drones, already settling down on the ground. The face plates flipped down and Tony sighed.

"I have to get back to my son, let's make this quick, Rhodey." They both aimed their weapons, his repulsor's charging up, and the garden was awash with flashes, and bullets. Tony and Rhodey moved in a circle, backs to each other, like the well-oiled machine that they could be after years of knowing each other.

"You've got one more drone incoming," Natasha's voice came back over their coms suddenly. Tony noted that she sounded different. "This one looks different. It's the last one though, you're on your own boys." The transmission was cut and tony frowned.

"What do you think she meant by different?" Rhodey asked as he shot down the last drone. Something landed behind him with a thump, and he turned around quickly, only to be knocked to the side and tossed over the hill, slamming into the tree. Tony glanced over, long enough for Jarvis to take readings to show him that the main HUD was out on Rhodey's suit, and he would be dark. Tony would have to do this on his own then.

Getting a good look at what knocked out Rhodey he saw the helmet drawing back to show Ivan Vanko, in a newly designed, clunky, and ugly, suit. Two whips dropped down, then arc with electricity, stronger than the last time, and he smirked. "Good to be back."

Tony grit his teeth and raised his arm, firing off a shot at Vanko's head, but the helmet covered up again just in time to deflect the repulsor shot. Tony tried to fire his boots to get away and one of the whips wrapped around his ankle, throwing Tony back to the ground. The second whip was wrapping around his neck, and charging up, making Tony's HUD crackle again. He gasped when the power suddenly surged through the suit again.

Vanko pulled Tony closer with the whips, laughing through the suit. "You were right before, double cycle, more power." Tony grit his teeth as a wave of pain coursed through his body, this one was from the palladium. "Now, true Stark name will be shown."

Tony was suddenly falling back as the whips shorted, releasing him. When Tony reached for his neck he pulled off the end of the whip form Vanko's suit, and looked at it. No, the whips had been sliced through. Tony rolled back to his feet, and saw something fly past his head.

"I don't like bullies." Tony's head whipped around at the new voice and he swore his jaw dropped. The man standing there was dressed in a ridiculous costume, but one that he knew all too well. And attached to his arm was a very familiar red, white, and blue shield with a star. The man threw the shield, hitting Vanko's suit in the head, causing him to stumble back, and the shield rebounded back to his arm, and he threw it again.

Tony stood up, charging up the suit for a center blast, straight to the reactor in Vanko's suit. The shield hit Vanko a third time, and Tony let loose the unibeam shot. He hit the reactor and Tony saw it explode, short circuiting the suit with satisfaction. Vanko went down, sparking, and Tony walked over, pulling the helmet off of him.

The damage had done more internally and there was blood on Vanko's lips. He laughed and Tony suddenly heard a beeping. "You still lose, Stark." Tony frowned.

"Sir, the drones are rigged to explode," Jarvis told him urgently in a broken voice. "Colonel Rhodes has regained control."

Tony turned and grabbed at the man with the shield, arm wrapping around his waist quickly and shooting up, out of the gardens. "Jarvis, where's Pepper?!"

"She has cleared the Expo, Sir." Tony let out a breath of relief as he flew for the highest roof he could get to.

Tony let the man go, taking several steps back, looking at him. If he was anyone else, he'd say that he was looking at Captain America, in the flesh. But this was Tony Stark, and he knew that Captain America had been lost in the War. But that was the vibranium shield that his father had made, there was no question about that, Jarvis' sensors had already analyzed it. The cowl on the man hid any identifying features and Tony was getting mad. Who would dare try to imitate the hero or World War II?

"Who are you?" Tony growled out at the man. He was about to step closer to the man, but the sound of a jet was coming from above. The back opened up and he saw Agent Romanoff was standing there in a black cat suit.

"Captain," she said and Tony narrowed his eyes. The man looked at Tony then turned, jogging for the SHIELD jet. "Good job, Stark," Natasha said as the bay doors started to close and the jet lifted up again.

"Dammit!" Tony shouted, but they were already flying away. Of course SHIELD would try something like replacing Captain America. Tony was going to have words with Coulson and Mary, very soon. "Jarvis, tell Coulson I'm on way to get Peter. Connect me to Bruce."

"Immediately, Sir," the AI said as he opened a link to the Manor workshop.

Steve bit his lip, looking at Romanoff as the jet took off. He had gotten word from Coulson that he would be being picked up, something else happening that would need his attention. "Where are we going?" He took off the cowl, letting it drop against his back.

"I'm dropping you off with Fury," she said, walking back up towards the front. "I have another stop to make." Natasha glanced at him. "Good job, Stark didn't recognize you at all." Steve grunted a little. He put the shield down, taking a seat, and blinked when Natasha handed him a tablet.

"We're bringing in a team for this one," she told him as he turned on the tablet, looking at the files. "Like a response team, better freshen up." Steve looked through the names, seeing Stark's name. He looked up at her and she stared back evenly. "We're going to need his expertise, and maybe his firepower. Better make peace with your feelings."

* * *

Tony grabbed a new core from Bruce before taking one of the cars, and the Mark V suitcase, to pick up Peter. Coulson said that he would meet them at Tower after Tony confessed that that was where he was going to take him. The calculations would be done in a couple of hours for the new element, and Bruce promised that he would have a plan drawn up for Tony first thing in the morning. Tony didn't tell him about the Captain America look-a-like. It wasn't the same person that Bruce had been attempting to re-create when he had his own Gamma mishap.

Tony's feet tapped as he rode up the elevator, getting antsy, wanting to see Peter. Everything was simultaneously falling apart, and then back into place. He was on an uphill trend at the moment.

"Daddy!" Tony stepped off the elevator and instantly got down on one knee to embrace the running child. He wrapped his arms around him, Peter's little arms wrapping tightly around Tony's neck in return, pressing his face into Tony's neck. "Daddy," he sniffed a little and Tony stood back up, hand rubbing circles on Peter's back. "I was scared, Daddy." Tony's heart broke a little at that, having horrible deja vu from a year ago in Monaco. "They were attacking you."

"Daddy's a superhero, remember?" Tony said softly, pressing his cheek to Peter's hair. "No one can hurt Daddy. My Petey, I'm sorry."

"Did you get rid of the bad guys?" Peter wasn't going to let go anytime soon, gripping onto Tony as he walked over to the couch in the penthouse of the Tower.

"Yeah, I did," he nodded, not wanting to look a Coulson. He knew he would be proven wrong if he looked over, he just knew it. "They won't come around anymore." He kissed the top of Peter's head. "Do you wanna see the room that I built just for you, though? Hmm?" Tony froze a little when he felt little fingers tracing over the black lines of the palladium poisoning on his neck.

"Did you get hurt?" Peter asked softly, not pressing down on the marks, just in case they hurt his Daddy.

"Not from this fight," Tony told him. "This is from the arc reactor." As he said it, Peter put his hand over Tony's chest. "But, that's why Uncle Bruce is here, he's helping Daddy get rid of it, so you don't have to worry about it at all, okay?" Peter nodded. "Alright, let's go see this special room, yeah?" Peter nodded, still holding onto Tony. "I really think you're going to like it."

Tony got up, adjusting Peter in his arms and headed to the other side of the room, Coulson falling into step just behind him. He stepped down a hall and stopped at the third door in the hall, Jarvis opening the door automatically for him. Tony turned Peter a little as the lights came up, showing Peter a fully stocked Art Room. Peter's eyes widened and Tony put him down, the little boy instantly running inside.

"Stark," Coulson said softly, coming up beside Tony. He knew it, Coulson never called him Stark like that unless it was serious.

"Agent," Tony responded, watching peter examine the drawing table, then opening all the shelves of the storage compartments right by it.

"We need your help," Coulson said, holding out a SHIELD tablet to him. Tony looked at him, then took it.

"Better be something damn important," Tony replied, quiet enough that Peter didn't hear him. "My son is upset, and Mary is-

"In a coma." Tony froze. Everything in his body just stopped working. Tony looked at Coulson, really looked at him, and he knew it was true. He could see the slight redness around Coulson's eyes, the worry lines pulling at the corner of his eyes, the tense stance. Oh gods.

"What happened?" Tony demanded after finding his voice. What had SHIELD done? How was he supposed to tell Peter about this? What was going to happen?

Coulson just nodded towards the tablet and Tony folded it up, holding it. It turned on and he instantly opened the first folder. He saw pictures of the destruction of what could have only been a SHIELD base. Some test were being conducted, but something went wrong, energy readings had spiked, an influx of power had actually created an implosion underground. There was a picture of a sedan, mostly buried underneath what could only be a couple of tons of cement, with access to the front windshield, the driver's side airbag deployed and hanging over the steering wheel.

Tony grit his jaw tightly, his knuckles turning white as his grip tightened. Mary had been in that car when the base had literally fallen to pieces. She had a bullet wound to her right calf, with a tibular and fibular break as well, a broken nose form the airbag, four cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and coxal bone fracture on her left hip. Tony's brain worked with what he was given, formulas appearing to explain all the breaks. She had been much too fast, probably trying to get out, and the rocks brought her to a dead stop, propelling her with too much force to her body.

"Where is she?" Tony whispered, not looking away from the files. What had been so important down there?

"SHIELD medical," Coulson responded.

"I want her moved her," Tony said automatically. "The Tower, the Manor, I don't care. I want her where I can keep an eye on her. Jarvis will be watching her twenty-four hours, and I'll be getting the best doctors in the world to come."

Coulson licked his lips a little, but he didn't disagree with Tony. "You need to keep reading, Tony." Tony looked over at Coulson, so unused to hearing his first name come from his mouth. Looking back at the tablet, Coulson reached over, tapping on another folder, different files popping up. He frowned, looking over them. There was one of Bruce, pictures and videos of his first transformations into what had been classified as the Hulk, someone called Thor from when Coulson had gone to New Mexico, and another file that had him frowning. He enlarged the file on Captain America, seeing old film reels of him fighting back in World War II, and then pictures of him, well his body, covered in ice.

The man, at the Expo. That wasn't someone replacing him, that was actually Captain America. Captain America was alive, and SHIELD had found him. He would be very angry later about why no one had told him that he had been found, and awake; he was a Stark! His Dad helped Make Captain America. But there was one other image that caught his eyes.

He pulled up the picture of a blue cube, then put his finger out, gripping it and the hologram jumped into his hand. Tony turned it, frowning. Tesseract. This is what Howard had found while he was searching for Captain America, he had seen it mentioned in Howard's notebooks.

Tony didn't think that he had gained this much upwards motion on the hill he was currently climbing to excuse the amount he had just fallen back with all this news.

"You're bringing Banner in on this?" He looked back through the files again, dropping the image of the tesseract.

"He's an expert in Gamma rays, that's how Fury wants to track the cube," Coulson explained. "We'd like you to help."

"I've got Peter," Tony said, looking back over at his little boy. His excited, smiling little boy, who had just a private art room, all to himself. His little boy that he was going to have to tell that his Mama wasn't going to be coming back for a little while, that she was sleeping, and it was going to be hard to wake her up. Tony never wanted any of these horrible things to happen to his son.

"I know, and I wouldn't ask if it wasn't necessary," Coulson said quietly, urgently. "We're trying to track Loki as we speak, but we'd like you and Banner with us on the Hellicarrier as soon as possible."

"I'm going to need time." Tony needed Banner for his arc reactor. And Tony needed time with Peter.

"I wouldn't ask you to come without Peter," Coulson said, knowing that he would obviously be thinking about Peter. Coulson was getting closer with the little boy as well, so he obviously cared. "He's going to need you, and I can be there when you need to be in the lab."

Tony wrinkled his nose and nodded a little. "I'll look this over, read the notes. But, I need to be with my son right now. I was attacked earlier, if you hadn't noticed." Deflect, Tony, that's how Starks do it. Absorb and deflect, don't let them know what you're really feeling inside, they can use it against you.

Coulson nodded, and turned quietly, disappearing from the Tower. Tony closed the tablet, slipping it under his arm. He'd take Peter to the Master bedroom, queue up a couple of movies, tell Peter about Mary, and pray that he could get Peter to sleep. There was no way that Tony would be sleeping, and he was pretty sure that Peter wouldn't be sleeping, knowing that his Mama was hurt.

* * *

Steve was topside as the sun cleared the horizon in the morning to meet with Dr Banner as he arrived. Natasha had eventually convinced him to come first thing in the morning. Steve had met up with Coulson as soon as he got there late in the night, pulling Steve aside to tell him about Mary.

The breath had been stolen from Steve's lungs at the news. She was alive, but in a coma. Her injuries were serious, so they didn't know how long until she woke up. Coulson didn't say it, but he knew the doctors had said it; If she woke up.

Steve had asked about Peter right away, and Coulson assured him that he was safe with Tony, and that Tony wouldn't let the boy out of his sights. Tony had wanted to move Mary to his house, to have round the clock care for her, and Steve for once couldn't be upset with the man. It's what he would have wanted to do, especially if he had the resources that Stark did. Steve honestly didn't expect to see Tony coming aboard the Hellicarrier after this revelation.

The Quinjet landed, and Steve walked over as the bay doors opened. Banner was a smaller man than he would have thought, especially considering the size of the Hulk. The man looked tired, a little rumpled, and was holding onto a few notebooks and a tablet. He pushed his glasses up on his nose, then caught sight of Steve, blinking. Steve had learned that Dr Bruce Banner had tried to re-create the serum that was used on himself, but it had resulted in something, less than expected. So to see the product of what his research had been about must have been a little surprising.

"Dr Banner," Steve said, sticking his hand out to the man.

"Yeah, hi," Banner said, a little unsure, maybe a little skittish. "They told me you would be here."

"Word is you can find the cube." He wanted nothing more than to find the cube, catch Loki, and if he got a few punches in, or hits with the shield while he was at it, well it might of a little ways to relieving his stress at the moment.

"Is that the only word?" Bruce asked carefully. It would be obvious that he would be nervous about coming on board a vessel with so many SHIELD agents around, so many opportunities to exploit the Hulk like so many others had tried to do. Or to take him down.

"Only word I care about," Steve responded, nodding. Dr Banner studied him carefully then nodded.

"You boys may wanna step inside soon," Natasha said to them. "It's gonna get a little hard to breathe." Engines started to come to life when she finished her sentence, and Dr Banner's eyes widened a little. They both walked to the edge, craning their head over to look down.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked. When he had arrived they had just stayed in the water. It wouldn't be out of place for a carrier to be in the water, for SHIELD to have a mobile base.

"Really?" Steve noticed that the Doctor had a wry smile on his face. "They want me in a submerged pressurized metal container?"

That's when they noticed the large fan come out of the water, the carrier starting to life up out of the ocean. It's wasn't a submarine at all! Bruce Banner had a manic smile on his face now. "Oh no. This is much worse."

Natasha smirked a little and the trio headed inside. Banner met with Fury and they started talking about finding the tesseract, and Steve tuned out a little. He didn't understand a word of what was going on. He watched Coulson closely though, seeing the tense nature of his shoulders, knowing the man was holding a lot in at the moment. But, there was nothing that Steve could do at the moment, not while they were all on the Hellicarrier with nowhere to go. He found his way down to the gym, until someone needed him.

Steve had managed to destroy a punching bag, specially made to withstand his strength, then went to take a shower. He was dressing in his quarters when there was a knock on the door. Fury was standing there, looking at him. "We found a match for Loki, in Stuttgart, Germany. You're up, Captain."

Steve took a breath and nodded. "Yes, Sir." Maybe he had found a replacement punching bag.

* * *

Tony had been right, Peter hadn't slept at all. He stayed attached to Tony's side, keeping his Daddy in sight at all time. Tony didn't mind so much, they both needed the comfort. Peter had eventually stopped crying, but Tony had assured him that he still felt he needed too, that it would be alright. He had been fighting off the pure fear that he didn't know how to be the primary parent by reading all the files that Coulson had given him. He knew that Peter was reading everything that on the screen, but the boy didn't react too much, so he didn't see the harm in letting him watch him. Tony didn't want to hide anything if he didn't have to from Peter. And if Peter understood any of Selvig's notes, then Tony would have to reconsider having Peter skip some grades. Several of them.

Tony's hands were carding through Peter's hair at the moment, both of them quiet, just needing each other, when an alert popped up in the corner of the screen.

"It's from Phil," Peter said quietly, but loud enough that Tony jumped a little. They had been sitting in silence for several hours, and he hadn't been expecting peter to talk anytime soon. Tony glanced at Peter, then brought up the message.

'Loki spotted in Stuttgart'

Tony stared at the message. That was the one who was responsible for all of this, for what happened to Mary. Tony should be thinking about the others who had been caught in the collapse, but right now, he and peter needed Mary.

"He's the one who hurt Mama?" Peter asked, and Tony nodded a little. Another message.

'Will Iron Man be responding?'

Tony looked at Peter, and his son looked back up at him, brown eyes, red rimmed, sad, but his expression was suddenly resolute. "He hurt Mama," Peter said with as much conviction as a six-year-old could muster up. "You're a superhero, and he's a bad man."

"Going after him won't make Mama wake up," Tony told him carefully. Yes, he wanted revenge, badly, but he didn't want Peter to be learning this thought concept just yet.

"He might do it to other Mama's, though," Peter said. He had clearly thought about this. "Phil will come get me."

"Because I'll come back to you," Tony finished and Peter nodded.

"Because you're a superhero. And you promised." Tony hugged Peter tightly, kissing the top of his head.

"Because I promised," Tony repeated, whispering in Peter's hair. Jarvis responded for in the affirmative. Coulson would be there in ten minutes to take Peter to the Hellicarrier, while Iron Man would make a straight shot for Germany.

Tony had had time to think while making his flight overseas, boosting the suit as far as he dare push it, having put a new palladium core in, just in case. He had chugged an entire forty ounces of chlorophyll before suiting up as well, just to be at peak performance. He was going to take this asshole down. He hurt Mary, he hurt his son, and he hurt Tony. Tony Stark did not take that lying down.

In true Tony Stark fashion, he hacked through the quinjets speaker system when he saw that Romanoff was inside. He needed an entrance, he wanted Loki to remember who was coming for him. It had distracted and drawn Loki's attention, but it had also attracted the attention of Captain America, whom he had not been expecting to be there.

Steve had never been so glad for Coulson's redesign to the suit. Loki hit hard, especially with that spear, but the suit was able to take and absorb some of the blows. It didn't take him long at all to jump back to his feet to react to the attacks. He didn't hold back anything. But neither did Loki. The music had been unexpected though.

Tony shot a repulsor beam at Loki before he was even thinking about landing, throwing the man back, hitting some stairs. That was a little satisfying. Tony landed, then raised both arms, weapons at the ready, all trained on Loki. And what the hell was he wearing on his head? Honestly, how did he expect anyone to take him seriously with that helmet?

"Make your move Reindeer Games," Tony intoned deeply. He really wanted Loki to move.

Steve collected his shield and walked over to Iron Man. To Tony Stark. The same Tony Stark who was here, instead of with Peter. (Although he secretly wanted to see Stark unload those weapons into Loki.) Loki merely raised his hands in surrender, the armor disappearing. Steve hated magic.

"Good move." Bad move, Tony wanted to shout. No move is bad move! He registered Captain America's movement to his side.

"Mr Stark." Oh good, the man knew who he was already. One more notch in the things that Tony was going to bitch at Fury about.

"Captain." Tony nodded a little to him, Romanoff landing the Quinjet behind them. And Tony may have gotten a little satisfaction when he saw the Captain grab Loki by the back of the neck, pulling him up, and practically shoving him into a seat on the jet. There was no special treatment coming to this man, and he deserved none.

On board, Tony took off his helmet, glaring daggers at Loki. He could feel Captain America beside him, but the man never took his cowl off, hiding his face. "I don't like it," the man said suddenly.

"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony tried his hardest to get an easy flow to his voice, to not have pure hatred drip from his tone. It would have all been directed at Loki, but Tony felt a little bit of animosity towards the good Captain himself as well.

"I don't remember it being that easy," he replied. "This guy packs a wallop."

Tony shrugged a little, still not looking away from Loki. He wanted his eyes alone to make the alien burn. "Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow." He cast a side glance towards the hero. "What your thing? Pilates?" Confusion. "It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle." Tony couldn't help it, and now he could practically feel the disapproval just rolling off of the man.

Steve locked his jaw a little, looking at Tony Stark, who wouldn't even look at him properly. He had kept his mask on because he wanted him to focus on Loki, but now all he saw was the egotistical, spoiled, brat of a man that the press had made him out to be. Howard would be rolling in his grave, he was sure of it. Two could play at this game.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in." The man just did what he wanted, whenever he wanted. And he left Peter alone. Did Peter even know about Mary yet?

"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you." Stark responded without a thought.

The quinjet rocked a little with the sudden appearance of the lightning storm. A lightning storm that seemed a little too unnatural. Steve looked over at Loki and saw that he actually looked unnerved. "What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" He shouldn't be mocking the prisoners... This wasn't a normal prisoner.

"I'm not overly found of what follows," Loki responded, and both Tony and Steve raised their eyebrows a little. A loud thump, and the quinjet actually lurched. Tony grabbed his helmet and Steve went for his shield. Tony reached up to open the bay doors and Steve frowned, until a man landed on the edge.

Tony pointed his repulsor at the man, who he thought looked familiar for a second. Before he was able to get a shot, he was hit with a knowledge bomb. Or rather with Thor's hammer that sent him flying back and landing on top of Captain America. Oh well.

He pushed himself back up and practically growled. "Now there's that guy."

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha shouted over the wind. She must not have looked at the reading.

"Think the guy's a friendly?" Steve asked. Tony thought for sure that SHIELD would have updated two of their top agents. How was he the only one who recognized the guy, and the hammer, from the SHIELD profile?

"Doesn't matter," Tony told them. "If he frees Loki, or kills him, the tesseract's lost." Tony was not going to let that happen. He turned, heading to the end of the bay doors.

"Stark, we need a plan of attack!" Steve couldn't believe that Stark was just going to jump after this guy, with no plans for anything! How was this man a good father for Peter?

"I have a plan." Stark reached the end of the platform. "Attack." He jumped and shot off in the sky.

Steve growled and went over, grabbing a parachute and sliding into the straps. "I'd sit this one out, Cap," Natasha told him.

"I don't see how I can," Steve replied. They needed Loki, and he need to get Stark before he got himself killed.

"These guys come from legends, they're basically Gods." Steve snorted a little at her words, grabbing his shield and securing it to his arm.

"There's only one God, ma'am," Steve said, a little bit of his 40's manners shining through. "And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

Tony tracked Thor easily enough, following the energy signature that his hammer left behind. He was still with Loki, a hand on his neck. Tony boosted and slammed into Thor's side, throwing him to the ground, making him slide against the ground.

"Do not touch me again," Thor growled at him, glaring.

"Then don't take my stuff," Tony shot back, the face plate lifting.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with," Thor countered again. "This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice!"

"He gives up the cube, he's all yours." He stared down Thor. "Until then," the face plate closed again, Iron Man looking at him now, "stay out of the way." Tony started to turn, scanning for Loki. Up on the ridge, still. "Tourist," Tony muttered under his breath.

He heard the shout from Thor, and turned just in time to have the hammer slam into his chest. He gasped, the suit actually giving way a little under it, the chest plate touching the arc reactor. The HUD flickered a bit, becoming an all too familiar thing now, and Tony glared, cocking his head a little to the side.

"Okay. Let's do this." Tony could go a couple rounds with this guy, he needed an outlet to take his anger and frustration out on, and Thor was presenting the perfect target. All he wanted was to get Loki to the Hellicarrier so he could get to Bruce, and Peter.

He slowly pushed himself up to his knees, sensors on Thor. He seemed to be waiting for him to get up. Tony didn't want to play fair. He turned his hand under him and shot a beam at him, hitting him in the chest and sending Thor back into a tree. Tony was up on his feet now as Thor reached out for his hammer. He started to spin it, raising it up and a very impressive lightning bolt struck. Thor threw it out at Tony, hitting him in the chest, sending him sliding back a couple of feet on the ground, but Tony stayed standing. He had just dealt with someone else who liked to use electricity, this was nothing to him now.

This worked differently though, as Jarvis informed him that system power was now at Four Hundred percent capacity. Tony smirked a little. "How 'bout that." Tony powered everything up, shooting both hand repulsors at the man, and a unibeam shot. It threw him back and Tony didn't waste any time in following him, slamming him through the tree completely.

Thor gripped him and Tony pulled up, bringing them both into the air. Now they were in Tony's domain. Or so Tony thought. Seemed Thor was used to being this high up as well, and struggled against Tony's trajectory. Tony managed to slam him up against a rock face, pushing him down along it, digging into the rocks as they went, until Thor used his hammer to redirect them. They both went flying through thick tree bark, Jarvis not so helpfully highlighting the damage to the suit as it happened. Mark VI was going to need to some tender loving care.

Thor flipped Tony as they hit the ground, but Tony rolled with it, and kept himself on his feet with the help of his gauntlets, and shot right back at Thor. He went for a punch but Thor grabbed his hand; Tony went with the other hand, and Thor grabbed his arm. And then he started to squeeze, and he actually started to crush the suit.

Turning his hand he gave a shoddily aimed blast to the face to Thor back from him, just a little, then threw his head forward in a head bang. Thor looked utterly appalled that Tony would do such a thing and slammed his head right back into him, sending Tony onto the ground. Shooting back up Tony went for another punch but Thor hit first, sending Tony to his knees. Before he had time to block, Thor was punching his shoulder and his back, pushing him down further.

Tony was aware that he was suddenly leaving the ground involuntary as Thor picked him. Tony's suit tried to adjust for the sudden downward swing, gears turning quickly, straining, but Tony let out a shout of pain as he was thrown into the ground, barely missing his neck cracked. Thor called the hammer to his hand once again, (a pretty nifty trick if Tony was honest), and was in the middle of a downswing when Tony fired off the boots and gauntlets, sliding between his legs and causing him to go down.

Tony went for another swing around, coming in flying for a punch to the head, making Thor see stars for maybe a second. He was already raising his arm, weapons popping up, Thor ready for a swing, when a shot, and a glancing blow off the armor caught their attention.

What the actual hell was going on? Steve landed and ran for the fight, because it was glaringly obviously where the two men were. He threw his shield, watching it hit Thor's chest, bounce to Iron Man, bounce off, and then angled back up to him. One arm was pointed at Steve now, the other at Thor, until Stark registered who had attacked them.

"That's enough!" Steve kind of felt like a scolding parent. Steve was already done with this shit. He jumped down and looked at Thor, Stark lowering his weapons. "Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here-"

"I've come to put an end to Loki's schemes!" Thor shouted at him, looking at him like it was all his fault.

"Then prove it," Steve said lowly. "Put that hammer down."

"Um, yeah, no!" Of course that was Stark. "He loves his hamm-" Thor swung his hand out, landing a solid, and damaging blow to Stark chest, sending him flying backwards.

"You want me to put the hammer down?!" Thor was sounding a little mad, and Steve was on edge now. He grunted and suddenly jumped up, arm raised, aiming for Steve. Steve raised the hammer, steadying his pose and his grip, ready for impact.

The shockwave, and the sound that came with it, was nothing like any of them had felt before. There was a bright flash, the clang of two unbreakable metals clashing, and a force that push Thor back to the ground. Steve stood up, letting his legs understand was standing was again, his arm tingling and vibrating with the hit, and looked at the other two, as they slowly pushed themselves back up to the ground. They all surveyed the forest, and the damage that had been done. The shockwave doing as much damage as Stark and Thor had done on their own.

"Are we done here?" Steve was done here.

* * *

Tony found Bruce first once he boarded the Hellicarrier, almost completely on accident. He had been looking for Coulson and Peter, but saw Bruce through the windows of the lab he was in. They marched Loki by and Tony caught the smile of insanity that Loki threw towards them. He was sure that it was directed at both Tony and Bruce.

Tony knocked on the door to the lab and walked in, drawing Bruce away from had happened. "You are a sight for sore eyes," he told the scientist. Bruce was able to see the black was peeking over the collar of his shirt. Tony threw on a jacket, covering most of the palladium poisoning.

"While you were gone, I was able to set up a particle accelerator down by one of the engines," Bruce told him right away. He had heard whisperings about Mary, and knew that he needed to get Tony that new element immediately.

"You're a saint." Tony practically sagged against the counter with relief.

"After Fury's meeting we can run it," Bruce continued, seeing the fatigue set in on Tony. It was obvious that the man hadn't slept since he woke up for the day of the Expo. "How's Peter?" He asked quietly. Tony gave him a sad smile and Bruce nodded.

"What I wouldn't give for Mary to tell me what I'm supposed to do right now," Tony said. "But if that were possible, then I wouldn't be in this situation, would I?" Tony slid his eyes upward, trying to fight back the not so familiar sting of tears. He needed to be strong for Peter, and this Loki and Tesseract business was just ruining everything. And he was suddenly mad at Howard for finding the stupid tesseract, and mad at Captain America for losing it before he went down in the ice.

Tony jumped a little when Bruce put a hand on his back, starting to gather him towards the main deck of the carrier. Tony let Bruce enter first, needing a minute to himself. He could hear Fury talking to Loki through the speakers, he wanted to analyze this without anyone else around.

-"an impressive cage." Loki's too smug sounding voice. "Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you," Fury countered and Tony frowned.

"Oh, I've heard," Loki drawled. "The mindless beast, make play he's still a man." Tony's fist clenched, still riding the anger train. "How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?" What Tony would give to be in that room with Loki right now.

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control." Fury was putting his name to use. "You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

Tony glanced over, seeing Maria Hill walk towards him as Loki's conversation continued. She nodded to him a little, hand gently touching his elbow, before walking onto the main deck.

"-unlimited power. And for what?" Loki's voice again. Was he still talking? "A warm light for all mankind to share?" Was he making a crack at Tony's efforts? It's what Howard was planning to do with the tesseract. "And then to be reminded what real power is."

Steve internally sighed a little as the screens went black. "He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Steve bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at the absurdity of Dr Banner's statement.

"Loki's going to drag this out," Steve said, looking over at Thor. "So, Thor, what's his play?"

Tony heard the others starting to talk and took a breath. The sooner this was over, the better. He could get a new element made, Jarvis could direct Bruce to set it in the new arc reactor casing, and run tests while Tony found Peter.

"-what did they need the Iridium for?" Tony heard Bruce as he walked into the room.

"It's a stabilizing agent." Tony glanced at the group and noticed that Captain America wasn't- Oh, holy hell. Tony really hoped he didn't just visibly flinch. Steve. The fucking Neighbor. Was sitting there, in Captain America armor. Tony was already three hundred percent done.

Tony covered it up by walking over to Thor, no longer looking at The Neighbor. He was never going to use his name now. Ever. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing."

Steve watched Tony walk in, like he owned the place, glance over at him and Steve frowned. He had to have recognized him, right? Why did Steve care? Tony was self-absorbed, cared about no one other than himself. He had certainly proved that today. Steve really frowned when Tony walked over to Bruce, not even bothering to introduce himself to the man.

"I was hoping, Stark," Fury said as he walked into the room, "that you might join Dr Banner in searching for the cube."

"Well, since you stole him from my basement laboratory, I guess it only right that I steal him back." Tony's words gave Steve pause. Tony already knew Dr Banner?

"Let's start with that stick of his," Steve spoke up again. "It may be magical," and what the hell, magic?, "but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it powered by the cube," Fury nodded. "And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor frowned, looking around. "I do not understand."

"I do!" Steve said with a little more enthusiasm then he should have. He had just watched The Wizard of Oz with Peter last week. "I understood that reference."

Tony thought that his eyes might actually roll out of his head at the statement. He looked at Bruce. "Shall we play?"

* * *

Bruce had everything well in hand, and Tony was happy for it. He was now cuddled up with Peter in his arms, resting against his chest. He had thanked Coulson profusely, and let himself calm around the mere presence of Peter. He forgot all about Steve Lying Rogers, and just held onto Peter.

Peter's hand went out to Tony's arc reactor, and laid his head against Tony's shoulder. "Phil is sad," Peter said quietly. Tony's son was too observant. "He loves Mama, too."

"Yeah, he does," Tony nodded, agreeing. "Do you miss her?" Peter nodded and Tony hugged him just a little tighter. "Yeah, I miss her, too."

"What's gonna happen? I can't stay at home if Mama isn't there." Tony dropped little kisses on top of Peter's head.

"You're going to stay with me," Tony told him. "You know how my house is really big?" Peter nodded. "Well, I'm gonna have Mama stay there until she wakes up. That way you, Jarvis, and I can watch over her. It's family that knows best, isn't it? We know what Mama needs."

Peter snuggled in closer to Tony's chest. "We'll make Mama better."

"Yeah we will," Tony said softly.

How was he supposed to do this? How was he supposed to raise Peter on his own? Oh sure, Coulson would be there, and I'm sure Mary's parents would insist on being there as well, but, it wasn't the same. He could have all the help in the world, but they weren't Daddy, they weren't Mama. Tony would have to be in charge of everything. Mary was so much better at knowing what needed to be done, on how to take care of Peter, and herself, and work, and just, everything. Tony could barely take care of himself sometimes; e.g. palladium poisoning.

Tony would have to make sure that Peter ate three meals a day, that he had his snack, and went to bed on time, and took his bath, and brushed his teeth, and make sure that he didn't have nightmares. He have to be in charge of any punishments, of making sure that Peter did his chores. Tony would have to do all of that, and half of that stuff Tony didn't even do himself! He was already turning into Howard.

Tony closed his eyes tightly, willing back all those dark thoughts that usually followed. Peter was a happy boy, he was well-behaved. What if Peter suddenly became rebellious? Locking up the sadness and anger that his Mama wasn't around? He'd take it out on Tony, and Tony wouldn't know how to properly deal with that situation, and Peter would end up hating him. Tony couldn't take that if that happened. It would be worse than dying if Peter ended up hating him.

He was so not prepared for this, he was so not prepared to be a father. Almost seven years, Mary had been trying to train him for seven years, but it just wasn't enough. Perhaps Tony thought that a good thing would never end, that Mary would always be there to take the role of primary parent. To let Tony step in when he built up enough confidence that day. That seemed to work out for them. Peter didn't seem unstable, and he seemed to always be happy, when he wasn't getting in trouble for something stupid that he and Wade had done. Tony had been resting on his laurels for too long, and it was coming back to bite him in the ass. Again.

A soft knock at the door drew Tony's attention, and he saw Bruce standing there with Coulson. Tony glanced at the clock on the wall. He had been laying with Peter for nearly three hours. The arc reactor should be done by now with the preliminary tests.

"Sorry to interrupt, but the cafeteria's open, and I promised Peter pancakes," Coulson said, causing Peter to move a little. He still hadn't fallen asleep.

"Can't break tradition, little man," Tony said softly to him, sitting up with him in his lap. He rubbed his back, and let one hand come up to cup Peter's cheek. He gave Peter a smile, touching their noses together, and he got a shy, sad, little smile in return. "There's my Petey. Go on, get some pancakes. And when you're done, I'll have a surprise for you, okay?" Peter was pretty good about noticing when Tony had a new arc reactor, and he was very interested to see what Peter said this one felt like.

"Yeah?" Peter asked quietly, and Tony nodded. He leaned up a little to kiss his Daddy's cheek, then climbed down to the ground. Coulson took his hand and they walked out of the room, heading down the hall in an attempt to cheer Peter up.

"You both look like crap," Bruce said as soon as Coulson and Peter were out of earshot.

Tony snorted as he stood up from the bed, cracking his shoulders and back. "Like father, like son, huh?" He and Bruce headed back down to the lab.

"The reactor accepted the element," Bruce told him. They entered the lab and Tony saw the new arc reactor sitting on the desk opposite of Loki's scepter. He had put in a new triangle design, getting a little tired of the circle. He had wanted something new.

"Look at it," Tony smiled a little, walking around it in a circle a couple of the time. "That's a much lighter blue. It feels better just from here."

Steve walked into the lab and Saw Bruce standing by the scepter, but Tony was looking at something else. Something that had nothing to do with Loki or the cube. Steve bristled a little with more anger. Did Tony really bring one of his experiments on board? Did he really thing that was more important?

"You need to focus on the problem, Mr Stark," Steve said in a clipped tone. Tony stood up straight, and looked at Steve dead on.

"You think I'm not?" Tony moved towards him. Bruce hunched back over the scepter, focusing on his research. Tony had gotten the Gamma calculation running already. Forget the week that Bruce had said he would need, Tony got the search running, and it would be done within the next couple hours. "Why did Fury call us in, and why now? Why not before?" Before Mary got hurt. "What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Steve asked. He shouldn't be surprised that this was what Tony was saying.

"He's a spy, Captain." One more name to use that wasn't Steve. "He's the spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too, isn't it?" He looked over at Bruce, who wanted nothing more than to not be involved in this awkward conversation.

"I just wanna finish my work here..." There was that skittish feeling Steve sensed again.

"Doctor?" Steve asked, frowned a little.

Bruce sighed, and looked up between the men. "A warm light, for all mankind. Loki's jab about the cube." Bruce looked over at Tony. "I think it was meant for you." Tony nodded, already suspecting. "Even is Barton didn't tell Loki about the Tower, it was still all over the news."

"The Stark Tower?" Is that what Bruce was talking about? "That big, ugly," Tony turned his head towards him to glower, "building in New York?"

"It's powered by an Arc Reactor, self-sustaining energy source." Tony glanced over at the smaller one, still sitting on the table. "That building will run itself for what, a year?"

Tony nodded at Bruce. "That's just the prototype." Tony looked back over at Steve. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now."

"So why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project?" Steve frowned a little when Bruce looked at him. "I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"

"I should probably look in that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's files." Tony was going to see what exactly Fury had been taking Mary in too.

Steve blinked at Tony's words. Was the man really- "I'm sorry, did you say-"

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge," Tony said, facing Steve again, and they were suddenly a whole lot closer. "In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide."

Steve leveled a glare at him. "Yet, you're confused about why they didn't want you around?"

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome." Tony was starting to really get under Steve's skin now.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up," Steve said, looking back to Bruce, too. "This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused," Steve leveled a pointed look over at the other arc reactor, "he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."

Of course! Tony almost rolled his eyes again. The soldier comes out to play. "Followings not really my style."

"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Steve smirked a little, not kindly.

Tony bristled a little. "Of the people in this room, which one is, A, wearing a spangly outfit, and B, not of use?" Tony could give as good as he got.

"Steve," Bruce said, trying to slightly diffuse the situation. "Tell me none of this smells funky to you?"

Steve let the words swirl in his head a little, then took one look at Tony, and straightened up. "Just find the cube." He stalked out of the room. The door shut and he stopped. Dr Banner was right though, and perhaps Tony, as much as he was loathe to admit. Steve needed to do his own investigation.

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about?" Tony actually admired that man as a child? If that was the man that Howard had wanted him to be, then he's glad he had a shitty childhood. "Maybe they should have kept him on ice.

"He's not wrong about Loki, though." Bruce set the computer back to the search, and walked over to the arc reactor with Tony. "Moment of truth." Bruce tapped the side of Tony's neck and he nodded, grasping the new arc reactor.

Tony reached up underneath his shirt, twisting the palladium reactor until it clicked. He let out a light gasp, closing his eyes a little, then pulled it out. He set it down on the counter, then reached the new one under and slipped it into place. He could feel a different resonance with this reactor. Tony turned it, hearing a low click, but not the one he needed. Tony frowned, brought his hand back out, then punched his chest with the heel of his hand. Bruce jumped a little until he saw the glow of the reactor.

Tony shook his head a little, moving his tongue. Oh, he felt it working. The new element clicked into place, and then hit his veins, and it started racing through his body. He gasped again, rolling his shoulders. He coughed a little and chuckled. "Tastes like metal shavings." He moved his tongue, the taste feeling like they were coating his mouth. "And coconut." That one wasn't so bad. Tony took a deep breath and vaguely saw Bruce covering his eyes from the glow of the reactor as it got brighter.

He stumbled forward a step and Bruce caught his arm, looking at him expectantly. Tony gave him a smile. "Feeling like a new man, Brucie-bear." Bruce smiled back at him, nodding.

The beeping come from Tony's phone pulled him back to it, and then his eyes up to the screens. His decryption programmed must have tripped over a new fail safe that neither he nor Jarvis had anticipated. Both he and Bruce walked over to the monitor, Tony holding his phone up to it, letting the program retry again. He looked at Bruce who had a grim look. They were not going to find anything good in these files.

They had approximately five minutes before Nick Fury walked into the lab. "What are you doing, Mr Stark?"

"Kind of been wondering the same thing about you," Tony said without tearing his eyes away from the monitor. There, almost in.

"You're supposed to be locating the tesseract," Fury continued. Like his tone was going to stop Tony from hacking.

"We are," Bruce spoke up, and Tony smirked a little. This is why he and Bruce were best Science Bros. "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature no. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

Tony hummed as he pulled up the first file. "What is Phase 2?"

Steve dropped the old, unfortunately familiar, weapon the counter, cause the three men to turn. He worked with SHIELD for over a year, he was supposed to trust them. "Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons." Steve spared a glance towards Tony. "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow."

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the tesseract," Fury started to try and explain. Steve narrowed his eyes a little. "This does not mean that we're-"

"I'm sorry Nick," Tony turned screen as he found one of the many plans for weapons, this one a missile. "What were you lying?"

"The world hasn't changed a bit," Steve bit out as Thor and Natasha walked through the door. Another SHIELD agent that was lying to him.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" Natasha looked at Banner, and both Bruce and Tony look back at her.

"I was pretty well removed," Banner started.

"Until you infiltrated my personal life," Tony shot at Natasha.

"Loki's manipulating you," Natasha continued.

"And you've been doing what, exactly?" Bruce countered back at her.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you," Natasha said.

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." Tony looked between Bruce and Natasha, sliding off the counter he had been sitting on. Something didn't feel right in the back of his mind. "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

There was a beat of silence, Steve and Tony looking at Fury to explain. "Because of him." Fury pointed over at Thor, who looked stunned, muttering out a shocked 'What?'

"Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet, who had a grudge match that leveled a small town," Fury was telling them, managing to look at all of them. New Mexico. "We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned." Tony couldn't help but wonder if SHIELD had had a hand in getting the government involved in wanting one of Tony's suits. The Iron Man suit would be ridiculously overpowered with the tesseract. "And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve shot at the director. The Red Skull thought he could control the cube as well. Steve was the now living proof that that man had failed.

"Your work with the tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies," Thor said looking at Fury. "It is a signal to all the realms that earth is ready for a high form of war."

"A higher form?" Steve frowned. What had SHIELD been doing right under his nose? Was Mary or Coulson involved in this as well?

"You forced our hand," Fury turned on Thor. "We had to come up with some-"

"A nuclear deterrent," Tony said breathlessly. He had heard the same argument for years. He had been one of the many people who tried to come up with that solution. "'Cause that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Tony narrowed his eyes at Fury.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be-" Steve stepped forward now.

"Wait! Wait!" Tony frowned, now at Cap. Who was he to step into this argument? "Hold on, how is this now about me?"

Steve felt his hackles raising. "I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Steve turned to face Tony full on. The two looked at each other, the others still fighting in the background.

"-America's on that threat list?" That was Bruce's voice, right?

"We all are!"

"You're on that list?" Tony poked at Steve. "Are you above or below angry bees?"

Steve took another step closer to Stark. "Stark, so help me god, you make one more wisecrack-"

"Verbal threat!" Tony put his hands up. "I feel threatened!"

"Show some respect," Steve growled out.

"Respect what?" Tony asked, managing to keep in a strangled laugh. Him?

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos," Thor's voice was deep enough to break through their argument.

"It's his M.O. isn't it?" Bruce looked around at them. Tony looked at him, something feeling off, but he just couldn't put a finger on it. "I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no," he shook his head. "We're a chemical mixture, we're a time bomb."

"You need to step away," Fury said icily.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam," Tony jumped in. No one talked to his friend like that.

"You know damn well why!" Steve shouted, looking at Tony. Was he serious? "Back off!"

Tony turned back to Steve. He wanted to do this? Oh, he could do this. "I'm starting to want you to make me."

Steve sneered at him. "Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist-"

"Father?" Steve let out a snort. Tony tensed his body and narrowed his eyes at Steve. "I know guys with none of that worth ten of you."

Tony felt like he had been punched in the arc reactor. It was crushing his chest, breaking his ribs, destroying his lungs, the shrapnel having a clear path towards his heart. "Does it burn? Every time you go to help out, that my son would still prefer me? Does it remind you of everything that you'll never have?"

Steve felt the heat from the anger churning. This arrogant- "Wanna make a list? Let's compare how many times I've picked up your son in the last year. How many time I've been there to take him, to watch him, when you weren't available, when you couldn't even take the time."

Tony was seething. Who was this man to judge him? Who was he to bring up Peter? "He doesn't even call you by a title, you're not even Uncle. But to him, I'll always be Daddy, and that's more than you'll ever be." Tony needed to push back, he need to tackle this, bring him down, because then Tony wouldn't have the time to agree, to say that Steve was right.

"The only thing you really fight for is yourself," Steve growled. "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you. Let someone else handle the dirty work, let someone else take care of your child."

"I think I would just cut the wire." Tony bit his tongue, hands fisting at his side.

"Always a way out," Steve let out a little chuckle. "You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be someone else's hero."

"A hero?" Tony let out a snort, then stepped up close, inches from Steve's face. "Like you? You're a lab rat," Tony spit out the last two words. "Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

"Put on the suit," Steve said lowly, deadly. "Let's go a few rounds." Tony pressed his teeth together. He was ready to go-

Thor laughed and it was like a slap to the face. Tony took a couple steps back, putting a hand to his head. No, this wasn't right. The room felt too hot, the air was too thick, and something was buzzing in the back of his head. Was this from the arc reactor? Tony glanced around. No, everyone else was acting odd, off.

"-case you needed to kill me, but you can't!" Bruce's shout caught Tony's attention. "I know, I tried!" What? "I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out!" Tony felt his stomach drop at the confession. "So I moved on. I focused on helping other people," he glanced over at Tony. "I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!" Bruce directed these lines to Fury and Natasha. "You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

Bruce's name was already on his lips before Steve spoke. "Dr Banner... put down the scepter." It was the scepter, it had to have been. Bruce looked at it, shocked that it had made it to his hand.

The beeping from the computer pulled everyone from the moment. "Got it," Tony breathed out. That was the tesseract.

"Sorry kids, you don't get to see my little party trick after all," Bruce muttered, walking over to the monitor.

Tony needed to get out of this room. He needed to end this, he needed to make things safe for Peter, for Mary. "I can get there faster."

"You're not going alone." Steve grabbed his shoulder and Tony turned, slapping his hand away.

"You gonna stop me?" Tony turned partially.

"Put on the suit, let's find out," Steve threw back.

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

"Put on the suit."

Captain America wanted a fight? Oh, Tony would give him a fight. Tony would take Howard's perfect ideal and he would wipe the floor with him. Until fire exploded in the room. Tony gasped, breathing in the hot air and coughing, almost choking as he was slammed into the edge of the doorway, Steve landed on his leg.

Steve shook his head, getting his bearings back and looked at Tony. The man was up, he was alert, and he didn't look hurt. "Put on the suit, we're gonna need Iron Man."

"Peter," Tony breathed as he tried to get up. He stumbled and Steve reached out to steady him before he went back down to the ground. "Where's Peter!"

"He's with Coulson," Steve told him. He had seen them sitting in the cafeteria. Tony looked at him, eyes manic. Tony wouldn't be reassured until he saw his son, he knew that, and he couldn't blame him. "Come on." He grabbed Tony's arm and pulled him out in the hall. Steve needed to grab his shield, and he could grab them some com ear pieces.

Tony greedily grabbed the ear piece, slipping it in as Steve was already using it. "Coulson?"

"Loud and clear, Captain. Engine three is down, we need Stark to get out there," Coulson said over the coms.

"I'm here," Tony said breathlessly.

"I have Peter," Coulson reassured him immediately. "He's safe, I'm not going to let him out of my sight." Tony closed his eyes a little, letting out a breath of relief. "But, we need that engine running again."

"I'm on it," Tony said. He looked at Steve. "Meet me at Engine Three." Steve nodded and ran off, and Tony went for the suit.

If Tony had thought that there would have been another way, to fix the engine, to stop the attack, and to keep Peter with him, he would have done it. Anything to stop the pain that he felt when he heard Fury's voice. "Coulson is down."

"There's a medical team en route-"

"They're already here." Tony held his breath. "Stark, Loki took Peter." Tony dropped to his knees, all the breath leaving his body. There were hands on him, but he couldn't feel anything, couldn't hear anything else. Peter was gone, taken, and Tony wasn't there. He had promised him, promised that Tony would come back.

A sharp slap to his cheek brought Tony's head back up, and he saw Steve in front of him. His face was twisted in a frown, but he was, concerned? "Stark? Can you hear me?" Tony blinked, then nodded once. "You gotta get the suit off." Tony looked down, seeing the heavily damaged suit. It was almost completely offline. "Loki will be going to wherever the tesseract is, and only you can bring back Banner's results."

Tony swallowed, letting out a breath. "It would take too long," he rasped out. "I'd have to start over again, and too many systems are down." His head was spinning now, he couldn't focus. How could everything have gone so wrong in only three days?

"We have to try!" Steve pulled Stark back up to his feet and looked the man in the eyes. "You are not going to give up on Peter!" That seemed to bring a little spark back to Tony's eyes.

"Of course I'm not!" And he wasn't, Tony would never give up on Peter. As he headed for the suit assembly, Tony vowed he would get Peter back, he'd find Banner, and he would make Loki pay for even looking at, much less touching, Peter. Thor's brother or not, no one touched his son without his permission.

* * *

Steve hadn't heard a word of what Fury was saying, he was looking at Stark. Tony wasn't looking at anyone, staring at the floor, at his hands, that even after everything, were still moving. The man was done, but he wasn't out yet. Steve wished he knew what had come over him back in the lab, why he had what he did to Tony. Steve knew that Tony always put Peter first, that he would always protect that boy.

When Tony left the room Steve followed him. He knew where he was going, of course he did. Tony stepped into the room that previously held Loki's cell, the room where Phil Coulson's blood was on the wall, probably the last room that Peter was in before Loki kidnapped him.

"He was a good man," Steve said softly, leaning against the railing.

Tony snorted, taking a couple steps back. "He was an idiot." Steve frowned a little, but didn't say anything. Tony was angry, and he couldn't blame him. "For taking on Loki alone."

"He was doing his job," Steve told him.

"He was out of his league. He should waited," Tony's jaw quivered a little, but he held it together. "He should have stayed back, he should have..."

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony." Steve had spent enough time in war to know that.

"Right," Tony let out a breath, starting to walk away. "I've heard that before."

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?" Steve was not expecting the almost violent reaction from Tony at his words. Tony whipped around, his voice quivering with anger.

"We are not soldiers! I'm not marching to Fury's fife!" Tony looked away again.

"Neither am I," Steve said evenly. "He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now, we've got to put that aside and get this done, to get Peter back." He watched Tony, watched the man glance to the wall where the blood still was. "Now, Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list-"

"He made it personal," Tony almost whispered.

Steve frowned. "That's not the point."

"That is the point," Tony said, looking up at him. "That's Loki's point. Barton would have told him everything, about Mary and Coulson, about Peter. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart," Steve said, like it was the simplest answer in the world.

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right?" Tony crossed his arms over his chest, and his feet started walking. It seemed that Tony did his best thinking while he was moving. "That's what he want. He want to beat us, and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Right," Steve turned, eyes following Tony back up the stairs. "I caught his act in Stuttgart."

"Yeah, that's just previews." Tony's hands were moving again, smacking against each other, his mouth moving a mile a second. "This is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tilt diva, right? He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered-" Tony's stopped, his eyes widening. Steve raised an eyebrow.

"Sonuvabitch."

* * *

Tony's suit was dried, done for, it was barely getting him to New York. But Loki was giving him just one more reason to beat his ass. First he hurt Mary, then he killed Coulson, and kidnapped his son, but this? This was just a slap in the face, using his Tower like this.

"Shut it down, Dr Selvig," Tony said, maintaining a hover.

"It's too late!" The Doctor was looking like Tony after a five day workshop binge. That was never good. "She wants to show us something! A new universe."

"Okay." This was going to stop now. He aimed his repulsors and shot from both hands. The machine needed to be-

Tony grunted, flying back, almost dropping from the sky from the resulting energy wave. "The barrier is pure energy. It's unbreachable," Jarvis said in the helmet.

Tony sneered. "Yeah, I got that. Plan-"

"Daddy!" Tony froze and looked down. There was Loki, standing outside on his balcony, his hand holding onto Peter's arm tightly. Loki smirked and turned, heading back inside, dragging a stumbling Peter with him. Peter tried to pull back, tried to pull away, but Tony could tell that he was too scared.

Tony landed on the platform, the suit dismantling around him as he walked, keeping an eye on Loki. He was going to kill him, pure and simple. He could get the bracelets for the Mark VII that were on the bar, then he would have a back up weapon when he pure, and unadulterated fury didn't do the job. As he walked into the penthouse, he could hear Peter's soft sniffles, and Tony felt his body alight with a renewed anger.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki said, like nothing was wrong. Tony pretended to pour a drink, holding up a glass towards Loki, ready to chuck it at his head. He needed to be smooth for two more seconds. "To bargain for the return of your child."

"Uh, actually, I'm planning on threatening you." He pulled out some ice, then a decanter, slipping one bracelet on. "Then, I'm going to kill you." Loki laughed softly as Tony slipped the second bracelet on, and poured the drink in the glass.

"You should have left your armor on for that," Loki said with a smirk.

"Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage." He held a second glass up to Loki in question. "Plus, you've got the blue glow stick of destiny. Oh," Tony took a sip from his glass, "I won't need my armor to take you down."

"Stalling me won't change anything." Loki raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, no, threatening." Tony put the glass down, and started to walk towards Loki now, towards Peter. "I don't need a team with me. See, what you don't understand is that you've made me more dangerous than you could have ever thought." Tony stopped, barely a foot away from Loki. "You touched my son."

"Your love for him is so deep," Loki mocked, jerking Peter, making him cry out and whimper. Tony jerked forward and Loki let out a laugh. "You'll end up like every other father, though. You'll end up like your own, neglecting your son until he hates you, drinking into oblivion, until eventually, you'll be a mere shadow of a man you actually thought you could be." Loki smiled, crazy coming off of him in waves. "The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

"Me," Tony growled before lowering his shoulder and charging into Loki, slamming his weight into Loki's middle. It was enough to catch the man by surprise, making his drop his grip on Peter. "Run!" Tony said to his son before Loki grabbed his arm and flung him across the room. Tony grunted as he slammed into the couch, hearing the wood crack, and rolling over it.

Tony lifted himself up as quickly as he could, watching Peter's legs try to take him away from Loki, but he wasn't fast enough. The Asgardian had impossibly long legs and was able to catch up with him. "I want something from you, Anthony Stark," Loki said, not facing Tony yet, intent on catching Peter again. "And I'll give you the, incentive, to do it." He watched him grab Peter's arm, turning him around, the boy crying, looking over at Tony. He was on his feet, running before he knew it. Loki's scepter started to glow blue and Tony was sliding on the ground, landing in front of Peter, the scepter landing on the arc reactor.

Tony jerked, but both he and Loki blinked when nothing happened. Loki's narrowed his eyes at him, then tried again, trying to take control of Tony. "Your heart-"

"Is stronger than anything you've ever encountered," Tony threw at him. He could feel Peter's hand gripping the back of Tony's shirt.

Loki tilted his head at Tony, then smirked, and Tony felt a little sliver of dread. "Then I will simply have to get to your mind." Tony frowned, and tried to jerk back before the point of the scepter was suddenly at his temple. All he saw was blue and a small voice in his ear before everything faded.

* * *

Steve was jumping out of the quinjet, landing on the balcony of Stark Tower, but there was no sign of Tony. "Daddy!" Steve was running when he heard Peter's voice, almost breaking the glass door as he ran into the penthouse. Tony was on the ground, Peter laying himself over Tony's chest, and Loki standing above them. Without thought, Steve threw the shield, the edge catching Loki's wrist, forcing him to drop the scepter, and Steve was running to pick it up, and slam into Loki's back.

Steve moved quickly, grabbing Loki's arm, but Loki was ready and twisted in Steve's grip. He grunted and turned, tossing Loki across the floor. Thor was landing outside, eyes lighting on Loki. Steve threw his shield again when Loki went to reach for the scepter, but jumped back when the vibranium sparked against the ground in front of him.

"Loki!" Thor was inside and running at his brother. Steve moved before Thor could tackled the other man, moving closer to Tony and Peter.

"Daddy, wake up." Steve turned when heard Peter's soft voice. He knelt down, slipping his cowl back, looking at Tony as Peter was pushing his shoulder, trying to get him to wake up. Tony's eyes were fluttering, closed still, and his fingers were twitching with movement. "Wake up, wake up, wake up," Peter cried, pushing Tony's shoulder harder.

"Peter," Steve put a hand on the boys arm, and he looked up with big eyes.

"Mr Steve?" Tears were falling down his cheeks and he suddenly threw himself at Steve, into his arms. "Phil is hurt! Daddy won't wake up!" He started to cry into Steve's chest, the super soldier wrapping his free arm around Peter, still watching Tony.

"Can you tell me what happened, Peter?" Steve asked gently. He knew he was upset, but he needed to know what happened to try and help Tony.

"The scary man put that stick to Daddy's head," Peter sobbed out. "Daddy was trying to save me, and now he won't wake up! Help him Mr Steve, please help him!"

"Captain," Natasha said through the com in his ear. "That portal is active, we've got incoming." Steve pressed his lips together, holding Peter more tightly.

"Peter." Steve moved, tilted Peter's head up a little by his chin. "I'm going to help your Daddy, but I need to keep you safe as well." Steve moved his arm, holding the shield, to show it to Peter, watching the little boy take a second to process what he was looking at, then his eyes widened.

"Captain Rogers," Jarvis spoke through the ceiling, catching Steve a little by surprise. "If Young Master can make his way to the private elevator, Sir has a secure safe room that I can take him too, if that is agreeable with you."

"Can you do that?" Steve looked at Peter, wiping his cheek of tears. Steve took a quick look around and saw that Thor and Loki were no longer in the penthouse, but were outside fighting on the balcony now, the scepter still on the floor inside.

Peter nodded a little and Steve stood up, keeping Peter in his arms. Steve rubbed his back, heading for the elevator doors that Jarvis was opening for them. "I know things seem really scary right now, but, I'm going to do my best to make things better."

"Because you're Captain America?" Peter asked softly, soft sniffles still in his voice.

"That's right," Steve said, giving him a smile. "Only Captain America can have this shield, right?" Peter nodded. "I'm gonna need you to listen to Jarvis, and either your Daddy or I will come and get you. We want you to stay safe while we save the day."

"Okay," he whispered as Steve put him down. He shuffled into the elevator, and Steve gave him a salute. He saw Peter salute back as the elevator doors closed. Taking a breath, Steve stood back up, and pulled his cowl back up and over his head, and adjusted the shield on his arm. He turned back around, and froze in place.

Tony was standing up now. Loki's scepter was in his hand, and his head was tilted down, looking at it. "Tony?" Steve asked hesitantly. Something didn't feel right.

Tony looked up at him, his eyes a bright blue color. "You were right, Cap. I'm not a hero." He thrust his arm forward with the scepter, firing a shot at Steve.


	11. May 2011 II

**_Slight trigger warnings for anxiety and panic attacks towards the end of the chapter._**

 **A/N: The thrilling conclusion to the Avengers movie! But not to the story. I'm trying to add more needed fluff moments, but I promise that there will be some in the next chapter, as I've already written some of it. I hope that some of your questions get cleared up in the chapter about what happened last time, if not, go ahead and ask, I'll answer if I can! I have vague plans for what's going to happen in future chapters, and that's all I need before the others start guiding me.**

 **Y'all are amazing!**

 **Unbeta'd, and Marvel owns more of this than I do.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**

* * *

The moment Tony felt the tip of the scepter touch his head, he lost himself. He didn't feel himself falling to the floor, didn't hear any of Peter's shouts, all he knew was that something was inside of his mind and he didn't like it. Tony couldn't describe what it felt like, it was nothing and everything at once. A force caressing his mind, riffling through his memories, holding him, pushing him down, and ripping into him all at the same time.

Tony gasped, sitting up in the cot, in the dark cold cave, the battery attached to his chest. His hands shook as he looked down, seeing the familiar blue of the arc reactor, the new arc reactor. But why were there wires attached to it? Tony blinked his eyes rapidly, looking around, his eyes adjusting from the light of the arc reactor to the dark of the cave. Not again, he wouldn't be caught in a cave again.

Swinging his legs around, Tony pushed himself off the cot then yelped, pulling his feet back up as he splashed water. The ground was full of water, several feet deep, and rapidly rising. Tony grabbed the battery quickly and stood up on the cot before the water crested over the top of it. As he stood up straight his head suddenly slammed against the rock ceiling, and he was pushed down to a hunch. The water was getting higher and he had a battery attached to him, and this time there would be no stopping the water from touching it.

Tony grit his teeth and pulled at the wires, yanking them out of the arc reactor and gasped. He pulled the wires away from the battery connections and threw it into the water. He would need to start swimming, he needed to get out, while he still had space to breathe. Tony felt it, the tightness in his chest, the buzzing in the back of his mind, the oncoming panic attack. He had to keep it together, until he got out of the water.

"Daddy!" Tony looked around, hearing the cry from far away. Tony started to tread water now, kicking his feet, looking for the familiar exit of a cave that he could remember from nearly five years ago.

Tony stumbled, almost falling to his face, when the water suddenly disappeared, leaving him standing in the sand of the desert. He covered his eyes from the sun and looked around, then saw two figures a few hundred feet away. "Daddy!" Peter, he was over there.

Tony started to run, getting closer, and saw the taller figure with his back to him. The figure, the man, was wearing a suit, no, a black tuck. The hair was cropped close to the back of his head, dark, with grey streaked through. Tony knew the stance, he knew the suit, the hair, and he stopped running. Howard Stark.

"No," Tony whispered to himself. Howard was facing Peter, Peter who was crying, big tears sliding down his cheeks, holding his hands to his chest. "Get away from him!" The man turned and Tony felt the blood drain from his face. It wasn't Howard. Tony was looking at himself.

"Daddy," Peter cried out weakly. Tony tore his eyes away and ran over to Peter, falling to his knees in front of the boy. He took Peter's hands away from his chest. There in the middle of his chest was a blue glow. Tony felt numb. "It hurts, Daddy. I'm scared."

"No, no, no, no," Tony repeated. He pushed Peter's shirt up, seeing the set in arc reactor. And the black lines of palladium poisoning marring his chest. "No, please, no."

The sand swirled around Tony then, circled around Peter, until it all disappeared, leaving Tony alone in a dark landscape. "No!" Tony shot up to his feet. "Peter!"

"He's not safe." Tony turned in a circle as a deep voice whispered around him. "There are too many dangers surrounding him."

"Where's my son?!" Tony shouted again. He had to get Peter back. Tony shivered when something brushed behind him and he turned around. There was nothing there.

"You can keep him safe," the voice whispered next to Tony's ear, causing the man to close his eyes and shiver. "Do you want to keep him safe?"

"Yes, of course," Tony answered immediately. There was a blue glow in front of him and he opened his eyes.

"There is power there, the power to keep him safe. Forever." Tony swallowed heavily. "You only need to reach out," as the voice spoke, Tony's arm lifted up, reaching towards the glow, "and take it."

The blue, it was familiar in color, but as Tony's fingers brushed along the glow, the energy was all wrong. It wasn't the arc reactor technology. Tony tried to pull his arm back, but the light lashed out, wrapping around his wrist. It tugged and Tony stumbled forward. The light grew in size, more threads lashing out at him, wrapping around his body, until it was all Tony could see, feel, breathe...

* * *

Steve lifted the shield up half a second before he was hit with the blast. He peered over the shield and once again saw Tony's blue eyes, looking at him, not brown. Tony lifted the scepter again and Steve lifted the shield again, making a face, knowing he had to try and stop Tony. Hopefully Romanoff's technique on Barton would work.

He took a breath, felt the next hit on the shield and moved forward. Steve lifted the shield up, expecting to hit the scepter out of Stark's hands, but instead felt resistance. Lifting his head he saw that Stark was holding it with both hands, pushing against the shield, stopping Steve, which really should not have been possible.

Stark snarled, nostrils flaring. "No one will keep me from my son. No one will stop me from keeping him safe! Not even you!" Steve's eyes widened a little in surprise, at both his words and the intense anger that coated them. Stark lifted his arms, bring them back and slamming the end of the scepter against Steve's shield, jerking him a little. Steve put his free hand behind the shield and lifted up with all his strength, causing Stark to stumble back a couple of steps.

He swung his shield towards Stark's arm, but Stark brought the staff up to block the attack. Steve moved one foot and was swinging his fist at Stark now, but he moved the staff just as quickly, hitting Steve's forearm and forcing it back. It was apparent that Tony didn't always need the suit to take care of himself. What had Loki done to Tony? To turn him into this angry fighter? Tony was still in there, by the way that he thought he was protecting Peter.

Steve fell into a routine of left with the shield, right with the fist, turn and pivot, try to throw Stark off his feet, forcing him to move back. Stark met him blow for blow, until one hit, a little closer to the inside, tripped him up. Steve pressed the advantage, slamming the shield against his wrist. Stark cried out, the scepter falling from his hand, and Steve kicked it, sending it flying out the window. Stark growled, narrowing his eyes at Steve and jumped at Steve.

"Sorry, Stark," Steve muttered before he swung his left arm up, shield clutched tightly, beaning Tony with the flat of the shield in the side of the head. Tony stopped, mouth opening a little before crumpling to the ground the next second. Steve took a breath and leaned down, shield still clutched tightly, but gently moved Tony's head. His chest was still moving, eyelids fluttering as his eyes moved underneath.

"Tony? Can you hear me?" Steve moved his hand to his chest, his breathing still strong, and felt and heard the moan of pain coming from the genius.

"'Sa mean leff hook," Tony slurred slightly, eyes opening at half mast. Steve left out a breath seeing them brown again. He was sure that the light feeling in his chest was just because he had gotten Peter's father back, yeah, that's what that was. Tony gripped Steve's wrist with his right hand, making Steve blink, before he realized that Tony was trying to sit up. He pulled him upright, watching him carefully.

"Take it slow, that couldn't have been pleasant to the head," Steve told him. Tony's pupils were shrinking and growing back and forth as he tried to gain his bearing.

"Yeah, neither was the blow to my wrist." Steve winced a little, but Tony shook his head a little.

"Where's Peter?" Tony tried to focus his eyes, looking around the room. "Loki-"

"Peter's safe," Steve said quickly. "Jarvis took him down the elevator to a safe room?" Tony's shoulders slumped with what he thought was relief. Steve felt a little guilty at the next question that he was going to ask, but he needed to know. "I need to know, are you good-"

"Get me in a suit and I'll be fine." Tony used Steve to push himself up carefully. They both turned to look outside, finally taking stock of what was actually going on. "Can't afford to have me sit this one out, Cap," Tony said carefully as they watched the invasion outside.

"I made a promise to Peter," Steve looked at Tony "That I'd help you."

"Not going to be much help if we don't save the world," Tony replied. "Won't have much time with my boy if we lose this. So let's not lose this." Tony walked towards the ledge of one of the broken windows in the penthouse. "Jarvis, deploy." Tony turned a head back towards Steve, something whirring behind him. "Beat you there." He jumped from the edge, out the window, and Steve's eyes widened as he shouted.

"Stark!" Something blew past Steve at the same time and he ran over, looking down, before Iron Man shot back up past him, firing shots at the invading aliens. Steve let out a bark of laughter. "That little shit."

* * *

Tony wouldn't tell any of them, but the suit was supporting Tony as they fought. He didn't have the needed strength or energy to keep himself standing for longer than five minutes, and his wrist was probably broken. Jarvis knew about this, could see the readings on the HUD, and tried to work with his creator so that Tony didn't have to do much maneuvering with his hand. But Tony would work through a hundred broken bones if it meant stopping this invasion and keeping Peter safe.

-the power to keep him safe-

Tony shook his head, the whispering in the back of his mind going away. He took a deep breath and turned, firing at a couple more of the chitauri. Steve had hit his head pretty hard, hard enough to bring him back, but the voice was still there. He could still feel, whatever it was, there, just at the back of his mind, too close, touching him. Was this what Loki was feeling? Was this what Barton had felt?

Whatever it was, whatever had passed into him with that scepter, it took his worst fears and gave them life. It played with him, then gave him a solution, just within his grasp, but with a price. It tested you to see how far you were willing to go, and it knew how far Tony was willing to go now to keep Peter safe. Tony had shown it his weak points, and it was relentless in its attacks. Even as Tony fought he could hear the whispers, could see the images of Peter in his mind, saw Tony, older, as Howard; and it told him that none of that would happen if he only accepted the power they offered him.

Tony closed his eyes as he flew through the Leviathan, blowing it up from the inside, and he didn't want to think about how much cleaning the suit was going to need. There was a faint blue glow behind his eyes.

Help our ally.

Tony's eyes shot open as he was flung through the air.

Help him secure the tesseract. Your son will be safe.

Tony grunted as he hit the ground, the HUD glitching a little.

"Stark!" Fury's voice.

Anthony.

"You hear me?" Tony grunted a little, trying to get up. "You have a missile headed straight for the city."

One of the chitauri hit his helmet as he tried to get up, slamming his head into the ground, but it was enough to jostle the voices whispering again, enough to focus on what was happening. "How long?"

"Three minutes, max." Tony swallowed at the words. He shot at the chitauri, getting to his feet. "The payload will wipe out Midtown." Midtown was where they were, was where Peter was.

"Jarvis, put everything we've got into the thrusters!" Tony ordered, standing up.

"I just did." Even Jarvis sounded rushed. And then he was up, flying, dropping off the rest of the chitauri soldiers.

As Tony got closer Jarvis scanned the missile. Nuclear, of course. What in the hell was Tony going to do with this? It was timed and there was no where remote enough that he could put it in less than two minutes. If there was- "I can close it. Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down."

The portal.

"Do it!" Cap's voice.

"No, wait!" Not yet, he need it open for just one more minute.

"Stark, these things are still coming!" Tony idly wondered if the man would have ever trusted him.

"I've got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute." Tony shot up, getting underneath the missile. He hated nukes. "And I know just where to put it." Tony knew what was coming, of course he did, but it didn't make it any easier.

"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip." Did Steve sound sad? Probably because of Peter. Tony felt bad that Rogers was going to have to be the one to tell Peter, but there would be no Peter if Tony didn't do this. There was no one else who could do it in less than a minute.

"Save the rest for the turn, J," Tony said quietly. "Steve," Tony let out a breath. "Take care of him."

"Shall I put you through to the safe room, Sir?" Jarvis asked sadly. Tony blinked his eyes, feeling the wetness there, and just nodded.

"Daddy?" Tony closed his eyes briefly, a little smile on his face. "Are you done fighting bad guys?"

"Almost Petey," Tony told him, keeping the tears out of his voice. Peter was perceptive. "Mr Steve is probably gonna be closer to come get you out, okay? So when he's there, you listen to what he says. I'm stopping the bad guys, so no one will hurt you, or Mama, again. Okay?"

"'Cause you're a superhero," Peter answered happily. He could see the blue glow from the tesseract now, could see his Tower. He was getting closer. Too close.

Tony bit his lip a little. "'Cause I'm your superhero, buddy. I love you." And he was up, headed straight for the portal, the missile too close to Zero.

"I love you, t-"

Tony's ear didn't even pop as he went through the portal, but a chill washed over him. The suit started to fail, the HUD going dark, Peter's voice was cut off. He let go of the missile, saw that he had at least guided it to the Chitauri mothership, or whatever it was, was going to be. The life support systems failed, his oxygen leaking out from the damage the suit sustained. He gasped for breath, tears in his eyes. But Peter was safe.

You will never be safe. Your son will never know peace. Tony hoped that he destroyed the voice with this missile as well. We will find you. He will find you.

"Too late," Tony whispered, watching the missile hit, the sphere of orange fire engulf the ship, destroying it. It was enough, it was enough to see, to know he had done it. His eyes closed.

Steve looked up into the sky immediately as the soldiers fell, lifeless. He needed to see the red and gold of the suit, he needed to see Tony! He felt Thor's gaze on him. The portal was open for too long, if they waited much longer then the destruction that the nuke was wreaking to the chitauri would come back, and Tony's sacrifice would have been for naught.

"Close it," he said brokenly through the coms. He looked away, then forced himself to look back up as the portal closed. He owed this to Tony, owed it to Peter, and to Mary. He swore he felt it as the portal closed, the air feeling lighter, the sky looking clearer-

"Stark!" His eyes widened, a smile flitting across his face when he saw the man in the sky. He was coming back down towards them. No... He was falling.

"He's not slowing down!" Thor started to swing his hammer, gaining speed and momentum. Tony was getting far too close to the ground, far too fast.

"Mr Steve!" Peter's worried shout came through the coms and he blinked. Thor glanced over at him. "Mr Steve! I was talking to Daddy and then he was gone! Jarvis lost the signal, and he can't get him back!" The Hulk jumped from a building, wrapping his arm around Tony, catching him. "Mr Steve, where's Daddy?"

"It's alright, Peter," Steve forced out. "Let me go find him. Can you stay calm for me?" He didn't hear Peter's response as he and Thor ran over to where Hulk had landed, dropping Tony to the ground.

Thor ripped off the gold faceplate as Steve dropped to his knees. "Is he breathing?" He practically whispered. He couldn't see anything with the suit around Tony, couldn't see his chest, couldn't feel for a heartbeat. Steve put his hand on the suit, and paled a little, seeing no blue glow. Could he rip the chest plate off to give him CPR? Could he do it without breaking Tony's ribs completely?

Steve swallowed, pushing back the emotions that threatened to creep up his throat. He had to tell Peter, he had to bring Peter out into this. How was he going to do it? How could he go there and tell a six-year-old that not only was his Mom in a coma, but his Dad was gone? He would tell him that he had done it being a hero, but Peter already saw Tony as a hero, and it wouldn't make it hurt any less. Steve looked at the ground. This was going to hurt everyone.

"Mr Steve?" Peter's quiet voice asked, uncertain.

The Hulk let out an angry, sad, roar, the ground shaking under Steve with the sound of it. And then, a gasp for breath.

Steve's head shot up, looking over at Tony, his eyes were open, wide, and pupils blown, the arc reactor springing to life, glowing brightly, and Steve grinned.

"What the hell," Tony breathed out, trying to catch his breath at the same time.

"I've got him, Peter," Steve said gratefully into the coms. "I've got your Daddy, right here, by my side." Tony's eyes slid over to him. "I'm gonna bring him to you."

"Thank you!" Peter cried out. "Thank you, Mr Steve!"

"What happened?" Tony looked between the three that were around him. "Please tell me no one kissed me." Steve almost blushed, almost felt the little bit of heat climbing up his neck when Tony looked at him with that sentence.

"We did it, we won." He looked at Tony, a little smiled. Tony let out a breath, looking visibly relieved. Then Steve punched his armored arm and Tony looked at him with wide, surprised eyes. "Don't tell me to take care of him again!"

"I thought I wasn't coming back!" Tony shouted back.

"Nope," Steve shook his head, putting out a hand towards him. "Not allowed."

Tony blinked, looking at Captain America, dirty, bleeding, exhausted, and took his hand, letting the super soldier pull him to his feet. "I'll take that into consideration next time." Tony said with a tiny smirk. He worked at the rest of the helmet, as Thor went over and picked up the faceplate he ripped off. As Tony pulled off the rest of the helmet, he took the broken piece and let out a breath. "So, where did we leave Loki, then?"

Turns out, the Hulk had done what Steve and Tony, and the others, had wanted to do. They found him crawling out of a little crater in the floor, before turning around to face them. Tony caught Loki's eye for a second. Thor grabbed Loki, Romanoff and Barton following, an arrow pointed at him at all times, as they went to secure him while waiting for a SHIELD team to come from the New York building. Tony was already working on the manual releases of the suit, choosing not to say anything when Steve stepped up to help pull the bigger pieces off. Tony was moving as he tried to pull the boots off, heading for the elevator.

"Daddy!" Tony turned and Peter slammed into him, arms wrapping around, sending him back down to the ground, landing on his back. He puffed out some air, but wrapped his arms around Peter tightly.

"There's my Petey," Tony said, pressing his face into Peter's hair. He had his little boy in his arms, he was safe, unhurt, in one piece. That's all Tony needed. He could be content in life with Peter in his arms. He felt Peter shrink a little in his arms, growing shy at something, and Tony lifted his head. Peter was looking behind him, and when Tony turned his head, he saw Steve, and the Hulk still standing there.

Tony ran his hand through Peter's hair. "Remember when Uncle Bruce said he didn't like green that much?" Peter nodded, still looking over Tony's shoulder. Tony stood up carefully, slowly, and turned to face the other two Avengers in the broken room. "That, is the Other Guy that Bruce talks about. But we call him Hulk sometimes.

Peter looked at him with big eyes, still curled into Tony's arms. Until he suddenly leaned forward, putting out his hand towards Hulk. "Hi, I'm Peter," he said quietly, shyly.

Steve looked at Tony, surprised, then glanced back at the Hulk behind him, who was looking at Peter with much curiosity. He wanted to trust that Bruce wouldn't let Hulk do anything to hurt Peter, but he didn't know how much control Bruce really had over him. He changed on his own, sure, but he was sure that the Hulk wanted to break out anyway.

"You helped my Daddy, and Uncle Bruce, and Mr Steve," Peter continued, not moving his hand away, waiting patiently. Hulk let out a snort of air through his nose, looking a little anxious, before he took a couple steps forwards. Tony tried not to tense up, watching him. Hulk put out his hand and Peter grabbed one large finger with his hand, and shook it up and down like he was shaking someone's hand. "Thank you."

"Little Stark," Hulk rumbled out and Peter smiled at him.

* * *

Tony hissed a little when the SHIELD doctor started to wrap his wrist up. Peter was sitting on the bed beside him, only because the doctor wouldn't let him sit in Tony's lap. They had cleaned Tony up, set bandages and liquid stitches on Tony's cuts, and were now tending to his nearly broken wrist. He could practically feel Steve feeling guilty from the other room.

Tony leaned over, dropping a kiss on top of Peter's head as little hands grabbed at the sleeves on his arm. He had made the doctor check over Peter first, to make sure there was nothing wrong him before letting the Doctor tend to Tony himself. He knew that Steve wasn't too far away, getting his own injuries treated, even though they all knew that he would be healed by days end because of the Super Soldier serum.

Peter tried to hide a yawn, but Tony felt it, his hand rubbing the young boys back. The doctor finished wrapping his wrist, giving him some order that he was probably going to ignore, and put his arm in a sling. That would probably be taken off in a matter of hours.

"You're tired," Tony said softly to Peter, who tried to shake his head no. "Yeah you are, you're a little ball of sleepiness."

"Wanna see Uncle Bruce, Mr Steve, and Phil," Peter said tiredly. Tony pursed his lips a little at the mention of Phil. He didn't want to be the one to tell Peter what had happened, at least not right now, not with everything else that had happened. He would talk to Fury though. Tony would take care of all arrangements, he owed it to Mary. He pulled Peter into a hug against his side, trying not to think about what would happen when Mary woke up.

"How about, we go see Cap next door, and I'll go find everyone else, yeah?" Tony looked at Peter, seeing tired brown eyes meet his own. "You can talk to him, 'cause he's the real Captain America, and I'll see if everyone else can have visitors. Then we're gonna get you to a bed to sleep, alright?" Tony needed to see where Mary was, and if Coulson had been able to do anything before, well, everything had happened. He still wanted Mary moved to his care, he was not going to settle for anything less.

Peter nodded and moved so Tony could pick him up with one arm, biting back the groan as he muscles and joints protested. He needed to rest himself, his body was trying to tell him that, but that could wait for a couple more hours.

They stepped out of the small room, seeing people scramble about, treating as many people as they could, taking overflow from hospitals, who were only taking seriously injured patients at the moment. Tony saw Steve standing as a doctor left his side. He was only in the blue pants and red boots, a white t-shirt on, and the shield by his feet.

"Mr Steve." Peter saw him and gave the super soldier a tired smile, happy to see him standing, and looking better. Steve looked over and smiled at Peter, walking to meet them.

"Hey, Pete," Steve said to the boy, and Tony raised his eyebrow slightly at Steve's own nickname for the boy. "You get checked out?"

Peter nodded. "A doc looked at me, then helped Daddy. They said that we're both gonna be okay."

Steve looked at Tony, giving him a little smile, then smiled at Peter, nodding. "That's good, I'm glad that you didn't get hurt."

"Just a little scared when the bad man took me," Peter said quietly, and Tony hugged him a little tighter in his arm. "But, he didn't really hurt me. Then Daddy came, then you came, and you both kept me safe, with Jarvis' help."

"Your Daddy loves you so much, and we both will always make sure your safe," Steve told Peter seriously. The little boy reached over for a hug and Steve moved closer. Peter wrapped his arms around Steve's neck, and Tony let the little boy transfer himself to Steve's arms.

"Do you mind holding him for a bit?" Tony asked Steve when the soldier looked at Tony oddly. "I told him that I would see if anyone else could have visitors, he wants to make sure that everyone else is alright." Steve nodded a couple times.

"Yeah, of course." Steve hugged Peter a little when the little boy laid his head on his shoulder, looking at Tony. Tony reached forward with his good arm, bopping Peter's nose.

"I'll be back in a little bit, okay?" Peter nodded and Tony kissed his forehead. "Then we'll head back to the Manor once all our business is sorted."

"Can Mr Steve come, too?" Peter asked and Tony blinked.

"That's-" Steve started.

"Sure," Tony said, cutting him off, shrugging one shoulder. "If that's what he wants to do, we've got room. Uncle Bruce will be there, too, so the more the merrier." Tony just didn't want to see Peter disappointed right now, and if he wanted Spangles to come back with them, then so be it. He nodded his head to Steve then turned around and walked off, several goals in mind.

His first was one of his crazier ideas, and he wasn't going to tell anyone about it. Except maybe the one, big, blonde, alien that was standing in the way. He nodded to Thor who was standing in front of the door of the cell that held his crazy brother.

"Man of Iron," Thor greeted. "Your healers have tended to you well?" Tony glanced at the sling, then shrugged a little.

"As well as they can, yeah," Tony said, looking back at the man. "What about you?"

"I am just battle weary, but nothing that will not heal," Thor said, nodding. "But, I think that you did not come to inquire about my health."

"Nope." Tony had one shot at convincing Thor. "I gotta talk to him," he nodded towards the door. "I gotta ask him some questions. I wanna know why he took my son." Thor looked at him with troubled eyes. "I have to know, Thor, he could have ignored him, left him, or something worse." Tony didn't like to think about the other possibilities. "But, he did it for a purpose. I have no weapons, and you put those sparkly handcuffs on him."

"I would suggest not being in there for long," Thor said after several moments, moving a couple steps away from the door. Tony nodded, pulled open the door just enough to slip in through, and closed the door. He stayed close to the exit, looking at the man that had kidnapped his son, sitting on a bench at the other end of the room.

Loki glanced up at him, the cuts and injuries he had endured, mostly from the Hulk, looking red, but starting to heal. "I wondered when you would come." Tony grit his jaw a little, but didn't move. "Did you feel him as well?" Tingles raced up Tony's spine at his words. "I had not expected the reaction when you were affected by the spear."

Tony licked his lips. "What had you expected?"

"To become another mindless servant, like the rest," Loki said with a tone of carelessness. "I had not expected you to become an unwilling slave, as well." Tony frowned at his choice of words.

"Slave? To who? You?" Tony asked carefully. Loki let out a short laugh.

"You know it was not me inside of your mind." Loki leaned back against the wall, watching Tony now. "Was not my voice that you heard. But, you did what I could not, you fought."

"Why did you take my son?" Tony asked, suddenly not wanting to continue this line of questioning. He didn't care about what happened to Loki, the madman had touched his son and that was unforgivable.

"Because I needed you," Loki said simply and Tony ground his jaw a little. "I would have used you for one purpose or another, but Barton had told me enough to deduce that the quickest way to get your attention would be through your son. I would not had hurt the boy-"

"You don't Touch my son," Tony hissed at him. "You're lucky I don't kill you now-" Tony was cut off by Loki's loud snort.

"I doubt very much that you would be capable of that at this moment," Loki told him, the bastard looking relaxed. "You have seen, and heard, many things. You went through the portal, you saw what-"

"Shut up!" Tony growled. He knew his shout would probably have drawn the attention of Thor. "I ever hear of you getting anywhere close to Earth after this, expect to see me. It will be the last thing that you see," Tony promised. The door was opened by Thor and Tony turned, stepping through. "Thanks, big guy," Tony said as he walked down the hall without so much as a glance back. That business was done with. For now.

He had a certain one-eyed director to find now. After several minutes, he saw Maria Hill walked away down a hallway and he decided to follow her; where there was a Hill, there was usually a Fury.

He wasn't disappointed.

"Stark," Fury said, looking down at a tablet. "I actually expected you to come sooner." Tony frowned. What was it with people expecting him? He wasn't that predictable, was he?

"I wanna see him," Tony said with preamble.

"No one is getting in to see Loki," Fury said immediately. "As soon as Thor is-"

"I'm not talking about him, that's old news." That got Fury's attention, making him look up from the tablet. "I want to see Coulson." Fury frowned. "I'm going to make the arrangements for his funeral, and-"

"SHIELD has that covered," Fury said, and now it was Tony's turn to frown. "You have your own problems to deal with."

"I think I'm owed a moment to see to him," Tony growled out. "Mary would be demanding the same thing if she were here right now, and Peter was with him when Loki attacked him. I have a right to see him." Fury looked ready to shoot Tony down, but he wasn't done yet. "My son was put in danger because of the secrets that your organization had, his mother is now in a coma because of your actions, and I put my life on the line to help clean up your mess and save the world! I think you all owe me!"

"Stark," Hill started, but Fury held up a hand.

"Agent Parker has been moved to your mansion, Stark," Fury told him. "Your AI is monitoring her now" Tony hid his surprised, wondering why Jarvis hadn't told him. "Coulson had put the order through before you came aboard the Hellicarrier. We've given you this."

"And Coulson?" Tony narrowed his eyes a little at the Director.

"I'll contact you." Fury said, then looked back down at the tablet. He was apparently done with Tony. Tony huffed out a breath, feeling anger curl in his stomach, but he knew when he wasn't going to get anything else. It didn't mean that he was done, but it would be useless to continue. Plus, he had to get back to Peter. He felt a little guilty then, hoping that he could distract Peter from thought about Agent by letting him see Mary.

When Tony made his way back to Steve and Peter he saw that Bruce had found them as well, sitting in a chair, Peter in his lap this time. The boy was looking even more tired and Tony knew that it was time to go home. Tony could deal with the rest at home, when Peter was asleep, tucked away safely in blankets where Tony could see him.

"Peter talk you into coming back with us?" Tony asked Steve as he walked over. The blonde looked at him and nodded. "Mary's there, just to let you know, so, you know," he shrugged a little. Tony ran his hand through Peter's hair. "Guess we'd better get to where there's a bed then, right?"

"I'll be there a bit later," Bruce said. He was in borrowed SHIELD clothing now. "I'm gonna help the staff here."

Tony nodded. "You know where the key is." Tony took Peter from Bruce's arms, the little boy putting his head against Tony's shoulder, eyes mostly closed. Steve grabbed his shield, and the trio was off, headed back to the Manor.

Tony's mansion had been far enough away to escape the attack from the aliens, but took nearly an hour to get too with the cleanup effort going on. Tony wanted to keep Peter from seeing as much of the destruction as he could, away from prying eyes; he had already been through so much in his few years already.

Steve had faltered a little as they walked up the walkway to the front door, staring at the mansion. Tony glanced back at him. "Come now, warm bed waits inside, Cap."

"You live here?" Steve asked, catching back up to him as Tony opened the front door.

"For the time being," Tony said, letting him walk in first, watching the man take in the mansion. It was obviously something that the man would have never seen back in the 40's, and probably a level of opulence that he wouldn't have even seen since coming back from his ice nap. Peter was already asleep in his arms, having fallen asleep in the car that Tony had managed to get from SHIELD. Happy was with Pepper while she had been on her meetings, so he knew that his friend would be safe.

"The bedrooms are down this way," Tony said as he walked down the first hallway to the right. Tony had always liked his bedroom to be at the end of the hallway, far away from anyone else that might have been staying there, but when he moved back there, and Peter had seen the place, he had instantly claimed the first bedroom, and insisted that Tony take the room right next door to him. Peter claimed that if he was closer to his Daddy, and the living room, then the monsters in the night couldn't get him. The hallway was too long to travel, the little boy had insisted, giving monsters too much time to catch him. Tony had been unable to say no.

Tony tapped on a door with his elbow on the arm that wasn't holding Peter. "This is Bruce's room." He walked down to the next door. "You can stay in this room right here." Steve reached forward to turn the knob, Tony's arm still in the sling for the time being. "My room is here," Tony said walking across the hallway. "Peter's room is right here," he said, tapping the toe of his shoe against the first door next to his. Steve opened this door as well, knowing that that was where they were headed first anyway.

The room was painted a medium blue, but the walls were covered in lots of Peter's drawings, actions figures on shelves against the walls as well. He had custom Captain America sheets, and Tony swore that Steve may have blushed a little, seeing the little bit of hero worship from the boy. Tony had let Peter do whatever he had wanted to the room when they first got to New York.

Tony sat at the edge of the bed, trying to pull back the covers, but Steve moved first, having two free arms to do it. The comforter and sheets were pulled back, and Tony gently put Peter down, not worrying about putting him pajamas at the moment, and tucked one of the stuffed animals on the bed between his arms. Peter snuggled into the pillows, gripping the stuffed animal, and Tony covered him back up. He motioned to Steve to leave the room, dimming the lights at the door, but not fully shutting the door.

Tony pulled out his phone from his pocket. "Jarvis, you there?"

"I am Sir," Jarvis answered from the phone a second later. "I am connected back to the Manor."

"Good, bring up surveillance of Peter's room," Tony said as a small rectangle appeared in the corner of the screen. He could see Peter sleeping his bed. "Alert me if he's about to wake up. What are the cell towers looking like? I have a call to make."

"I am linking you to the nearest undamaged cell tower, increasing the strength," the AI responded. Steve watched him, trying to understand everything that was happening, but he didn't look too confused. There were questions on his face, though. "Miss Parker in located in the room next to yours. I am sorry I did not alert you sooner, but I had not been connected to the Manor server when she was transferred."

"It's alright, J," Tony nodded a little. "How's her status?"

"She remains stable," Jarvis said, if not sounding a little sad. "I have contacted medical professionals that you trust, Sir, and they are on their way. I have a twenty-four hour surveillance on her room, and her vitals sir." Another rectangle appeared, showing Mary's vitals. Tony glanced over to the bedroom door that Mary was behind, and almost jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Steve was still standing there looking at him.

"You can go see her first." Steve frowned at Tony's words. "I have to,..." Tony paused, taking a breath. "I have to call her parents." He wasn't looking forward to the phone call. Steve's eyes softened a little. "I need to get a jet to them, and get them here as soon as possible. If they're even able to get in the air right now. Driving will be too long, but I don't know if all flights are grounded or not-"

"Only within two-hundred miles around New York," Steve told him. Tony nodded a little.

"Alright, well I can get them as close as possible, then get a driver for them." Tony was looking back at his phone, fingers flying over the surface.

Steve watched Tony, watched him dive into the newest problem on his plate. He knew what was happening, but he doubted he would be able to get Tony to stop. The man was looking for something to keep busy. Peter was asleep, so now he needed to focus on Mary, but he wasn't allowing himself to go in and see her.

"Let me know if there's anything I can do to help," Steve told him, and Tony just nodded, walking down the hall a little, towards one of the windows. The sun was starting to set and Steve sighed internally. He went over to the door next to what Tony had said was his room, and slowly opened the door. He could automatically hear the soft sounds of hospital equipment, a heart monitor, and stepped inside.

The room was painted a soft red color, the bed was large, and Mary looked peaceful with her head on the pillows. If you ignored the large bruises on her face that were purple and starting to yellow, showing that they were starting to heal. Her nose had been set, Steve remembering that he read that she had broken her nose. There was some dark circles under her eyes, and her arm was in a sling as well. He could see that one of her legs was propped up underneath the blankets, but she at least looked peaceful as she slept.

Steve bit his lip and sat down in one of the chairs next to her bed. "My Mom used to tell me that you should talk to people in a coma," Steve said quietly. "She believed that they could hear those that talked to them, swore up and down that it could help them wake up. I know your body still has to heal, but thought it might be nice to hear a familiar voice." Steve just felt that talking to her was the right thing to do. "A lot of stuff happened that you missed. Peter's alright, and so is Tony. At least, I think he is. You know him better than me, and he didn't look the least bit happy when he found out who I actually was. There's a strain there, obviously, and we both said some stuff. I'm not proud of what I said, and I wish I could use the excuse that an evil scepter made us say it. I'm still not sure, yet. This was something that not even you could have trained me for."

Steve leaned back a little in the seat, watching Mary. There wasn't a breathing tube down her throat, but she did have an oxygen mask over her face. Probably to help her breathing in case the broken ribs impeded that. He opened his mouth to say something when he heard a voice echo from the hallway. It sounded female and Steve frowned. There was no one else here that he knew about, or that Tony had mentioned. Steve stepped out into the hall and saw Tony holding onto the phone, and he could hear a female on the phone, her voice raised.

"-coma! You said you would protect them!" Tony had the phone sitting on the window sill, eyes closed, wrinkles at the corner of his eyes in what Steve recognized as either a bad headache, or a migraine. Tony must have been in more pain than anyone had thought. "I told her to be careful of you, that you would bring nothing but trouble to them! She defended you over and over-" The woman's voice faded out, the sounds of someone taking the phone away from her. Tony's hand was rubbing at his temple a little, head looking down.

"Tony?" An older male voice came through the phone this time.

"Yeah, I'm here," Tony replied quietly. "Um, I was going to say that I've got a jet waiting for you." Steve could hear the exhaustion and sadness in Tony's voice. He was in need of rest as much as Peter had been, maybe more so. Tony had gone straight from the trouble at the Stark Expo to the trouble with Loki, and Bruce had mentioned something about his arc reactor to Peter back at the medical site. "I'll fly you both as close as I can, the air is a no-fly-zone around New York at the moment. There'll be a driver waiting to take you the rest of the way here. I'll have a room set up right next to,..." Tony drifted a little before saying Mary's name. "I'll have everything set up. Peter's sleeping right now, and he's fine, I made sure of that. I have Jarvis monitoring him, as well-"

"Tony, you need to get some rest yourself, before we get there," the man interrupted him. Steve figured he must have been talking to Mary's parents. "I can hear it in your voice, son." ('Don't give him sympathy, Bill!" Steve heard in the background.)

"I will," Tony said, licking his lips. "I've just got a couple more things to take care of."

"We watched the news." Tony opened his eyes at the words. "Get some rest."

"Yeah," Tony said quietly. This man reminded Steve of the man he talked down from an anxiety attack last year. "I'll see you both soon, everything is set up. Peter will be happy to have you both here." Mary's Dad said his farewells and Tony hung up the phone, grabbing it, and just gripped it in his hand for a second. Steve felt like he was intruding suddenly.

"How is she?" Tony asked after a second.

Steve cleared his throat a little. "She seems to be fine," Steve responded in a soft voice.

Tony nodded, slipping his phone into his pocket. "I'll be downstairs for a little bit. Jarvis can help you with anything you need." Tony started to walk away and Steve blinked.

"You're not going to go inside?" Steve didn't believe that Tony was just going to walk away without checking on her. Tony didn't stop though, heading back down the hall, disappearing through a doorway. Steve was about to follow before the British voice stopped him, this time intoning from the ceiling.

"Captain Rogers, while I would usually agree with you, right now I must insist that Sir retreat to his workshop." Steve frowned. "I have been unable to properly record his vitals, and run tests on his new arc reactor, and must make sure that his is not suffering from any adverse side effects from the new element."

"New element?" Steve asked. He had noticed black lines on Tony's neck on his first visit to the lab that he and Dr Banner had been working. If he thought back on it, the project that he saw on the table, the one that he thought that Tony had been working on because he was bored, it was blue, much like the glowing reactor in his chest. Tony hadn't brought up a personal pet project, he was working on a new reactor. "Why did Tony need a new reactor, Jarvis?"

There was a pause, as if the AI was considering on whether or not to tell the Captain. "Sir suffered from palladium poisoning from the previous reactor," Jarvis said finally. "He needed to create a new one, and Dr Banner had been helping him. Had he not finished it aboard the Hellicarrier, I am afraid that Sir would not have survived long enough to stop the missile that threatened the island of Manhattan."

Steve paled at the words, at the thought. Tony had been working on saving his life as a side project. He shouldn't have been called in if he had been dying, it wouldn't have been worth it. If Steve thought about it though, how many had actually known what had been going on, other than Dr Banner? Tony wouldn't have told them, that was for certain.

"I will keep you informed, Captain Rogers," the AI said as if he could read Steve's thoughts. "I would like to recommend that you also get some rest. Night is approaching and I believe that it will be troublesome to find a time to rest coming morning."

"Thank you, Jarvis." Steve looked down the hall where Tony had disappeared, then went to check on Peter, just peeking his head in the doorway, then looked in on Mary, before finally retreating to the room Tony had given him.

* * *

While Tony had collected the data from the new arc reactor, and collected himself from the previous phone call, he had managed to get in touch with Pepper and Happy, telling her over and over that he was fine, and he was at the Manor with Peter. She should stay where she was, New York wasn't safe at the moment, and was just pure chaos. Jarvis assured Tony that Steve was asleep before he made his way back upstairs. Looking in on Peter, Tony checked that the little boy was still asleep, happy to see that he wasn't having bad dreams, or nightmares, yet. Maybe he would get lucky. Tony walked past his door, stopping at the door that he knew Mary was behind. He took a deep breath before slowly pushing the door open, stepping inside.

Tony wished that he would hear Mary when he walked in, yelling at him for being an idiot, telling him that he had overreacted by calling in so many doctors. But she didn't, she was asleep on the bed, the oxygen running, the heart monitor steadily beeping.

He sat down on the edge of the chair by the bed, and took the sling off from around his neck, the strap starting to rub at the skin. He flexed his fingers a little and held up his bandaged wrist. "Your wonder boy did this, by the way," Tony said softly. Tony took a breath. "I could really use you right now, Mary," he whispered. He rested his arms on his knees, looking down. "I don't know what to do. You've always been the better parent, and all I seemed to do was bring more trouble." Tony felt a tingle behind his eyes, and tried to push it back. "And I shouldn't even be the one sitting here. Agent should be here, doing this, talking to you, nursing you back to health. He would know what to do. I approved, by the way, of you and him. Wish I would have told him."

Tony sat there in silence for a few more moments, then pushed himself up from the chair, leaving the room. He stopped when he saw Bruce leaning against the wall across from the door. He looked tired.

"Steve is next to your room," Tony told him. "Jarvis took readings of the arc reactor, and everything seems to be normal. No more readings of palladium."

"You should get some sleep, Tony," Bruce told him, pushing himself away from the wall. "It's late. Go sleep next to Peter." Tony nodded a little. "Things are going to start getting crazy in the morning."

"You're telling me," Tony said, snorting softly.

"Rest, I'll make breakfast in the morning," Bruce told him again, leading him towards Peter's room. He made sure Tony went into the room before retreating to his own. Tony slowly crawled into the bed next to Peter. Almost instantly, the little boy turned, seeking out Tony, cuddling into his chest, hand covering his arc reactor.

* * *

It was cold, and dark. He was wet, and he couldn't see. There was someone there with him, he could feel them behind him. Tony turned on his foot, but there was nothing there.

You will never be safe.

Tony quickly turned around again. He gasped when a hand grabbed the back of his neck, throwing him forward, plunging his head in water. He tried to hold his breath, but he had had too little warning. Water made its way into his mouth, down his throat, and he tried to stop, but he started coughing, more water shooting down his throat, quickly losing his remaining oxygen.

Tony gasped, coughing, falling to his knees, when he was pulled back out of the water just as quickly as he had been shoved under. His arms were shaking, trying to keep him up. A shadow passed over Tony and he looked up, falling backwards onto his back when he saw one of the Leviathans passing overhead. He saw the Chitauri mothership and suddenly he couldn't breathe again. He was weightless, the dark abyss of space around him, the portal back to Earth gone.

We will find you.

Tony tried to get away, but his limbs were cold, they felt heavy. He felt hands on his shoulders, shaking him.

He will find you.

There was a scream in his ears, forcing him to close his eyes tightly.

Tony!

He shook his head, trying to get away, he tried pushing in front of him. He just wanted to breathe, he needed to breathe!

Tony Stark!

"NO!" His eyes shot open as he pushed the person that was over him. His chest hurt, he couldn't breathe, but there was light around him. He heard a gasp and he sat up quickly and saw Mary's mother, Rachel, stumbling back, holding onto the edge of the bed, her eyes wide.

"I'm sorry," Tony panted out, sliding out of the bed, stumbling on his feet. He couldn't breathe. "Sorry, I'm sorry," he kept repeating, looking around the room. Where was he? He couldn't remember. Blue walls, drawings all over. Peter, this was Peter's room. Tony's head whipped around, looking for the little boy, but didn't see him. "Peter," Tony panted, stumbling past Rachel, heading for the door. He didn't hear the woman calling his name behind him. He needed to find Peter.

Tony had been holding onto the wall as he made his way to the door. As he left the stability of the wall he stumbled, falling to his knees. He couldn't catch his breath, his chest really hurt, and it felt like his eye were vibrating. There were people coming towards him and he quickly backed up until his back hit the wall. He hissed when he bent his wrist a little too much. There were voices talking around him and he pressed his hands to his ears, shaking his head.

Why couldn't he just breathe?! Why did he hurt so much? The arc reactor, it was working, wasn't it?

Someone tried to grab his hands and he pushed back at them. No, he couldn't let this happen, he needed to keep Peter safe! He couldn't protect Mary, he needed to protect Peter!

"He's safe, Tony." Tony kept pushing at the hands, trying to keep them away. The hands moved to his shoulders, but they were a light touch. "Tony, open your eyes for me. Open your eyes."

He didn't want to see what was there. He didn't want to see the darkness, didn't want to think that he was far away from Peter again.

"You're in New York," the voice was speaking again. It was older, commanding, but soft. "You're in your house, in New York. Open your eyes, Tony." Tony shook his head a little. "You have to do it Tony, you need to breathe. You're hyperventilating, part of a severe anxiety attack."

What? Tony felt himself frowning, then slowly started to open his eyes. He recognized the person in front of him, white hair, the same soft eyes that Mary had. William.

"Look at me, Tony," the man said again, keeping his eyes on Tony's. "I need you match your breathing to mine." One of his hands was pressed to William's chest, feeling the man's chest rise and fall with each breath he took. "Concentrate, Tony."

Steve had jumped from his bed, running to the door when he heard Jarvis call his name. He saw the door to Peter's bedroom open, then saw Tony stumble out, falling to the floor. His eyes were wide, pupils were blown, and he was hyperventilating. An older man was rushing down the hall, kneeling front of Tony and Steve blinked. There was a woman in the doorway to Peter's room, watching Tony with wide, but hard, eyes.

Tony started to mumble Peter's name, and the man assured him that he was safe, telling him to open his eyes. "Don't want too," Tony stuttered out, fear lacing his voice. "Don't want to be back there, can't go back there, can't lose Peter."

Steve glanced up at the woman across the hall. She was looking at Tony with a hard gaze. This must have been Mary's mother, the same one who had been yelling at him on the phone. He knew that the woman had been speaking out of grief for her daughter, but it seemed that she was still carrying around that anger towards Tony. While Steve wasn't Tony's biggest fan, he had seen what the man had done, how he had sacrificed himself to save everyone. It wasn't right for her to judge Tony as harshly as she was.

Steve looked back at Tony when he heard a couple of faint wheezing sounds. He was trying to catch his breath now, trying to pull it in. This was something that Steve was familiar with. Bucky would wake up with nightmares sometimes during the war. None of the Commandos would say anything, and Steve was always there for him.

He moved from his doorway, leaning next to Mary's father. The older man glanced at him, and Steve instantly knew that this man had served, there was some kind of military look that passed, before he nodded, transferring Tony's care to Steve. Steve took one of Tony's hands, then gently guided his forehead to rest against Steve's chest. "You're doing great, Tony. Listen to my breathing, match the rhythm. In through the nose when I go up, out through the mouth when I go down. In, and out." He started to guide Tony's breathing.

"He shoved me away," he heard Mary's mother hiss to her husband in the hallway. "Nearly slammed me into the dresser, he shouldn't be coddled-"

"He's having a flashback," Mary's father said curtly to his wife. "He's not alright, and we can't let Peter see him like that either." The woman huffed a little, but didn't say anything else.

Steve put his other hand on Tony's back, rubbing small circles, helping him calm down. The wheezes were quieting down, slowing down, Tony's breathing evening out slowly. "That's it," Steve soothed quietly. "Almost there."

After a couple minutes Tony leaned back, eyes open, and looked at Steve. Steve, not William. He blinked rapidly, then started to push himself up from the floor. Steve paused, then helped Tony up. "Sorry," Tony breathed, looking down at the floor. Steve fucking Rogers had to help him through another anxiety attack. "I have too," the words were starting to flow from Tony's mouth. "Have to go, check on stuff, just, gotta..." Tony stepped around Steve, not looking at anyone, practically jogging down the hall, away from everyone.

His hands reached for the handle down to his workshop and pushed it open quickly, flying down the stairs. In retrospect he was lucky that he hadn't tripped. He reached for the workshop door, but it didn't budge. He growled then looked at the scanner, pressing his thumb hastily to it. He had put this in for something like this. If he had been too drunk, or incapacitated in some way, if he shouldn't be in the workshop for his own safety, then he wouldn't be able to get in. Jarvis couldn't override this, unless it was an emergency.

The door beeped once, sliding open. "Tony." He paused at the door, not turning around. It was William, not Steve. Tony walked inside the workshop, then held the door open for Mary's father to follow him. He took the invitation, the door sliding closed behind them. Tony practically collapsed on the couch, burying his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry," Tony said quietly. Here he was, running away, from Mary, from Peter. Rachel had her right to berate Tony, he wouldn't be surprised if they demanded to take Mary back to California, and Peter with them.

"I talked to your AI," William said after a beat. "Jarvis. He's very insightful." Tony leaned back against the couch, William sat down next to him. "He told me what happened, with that missile, and how your first thoughts were of Peter."

Tony swallowed. "I should tell you, that if anything happens to me, Peter gets everything," Tony told him. "I guess, at this point it would go to him, and then to Mary because Peter's too young, but that would go to you and Rachel until she wakes up. It's all set up like that, dozens of lawyers making sure it's ironclad."

"You're a good father." Tony's head whipped around to look at William. "You're a good man. Rachel is just upset."

"She's never liked me," Tony snorted.

"She's never thought you were good enough for Mary and Peter," William corrected. "To be fair, no one will be good enough in her eyes, so don't take everything so personally."

"Why aren't you more upset with me?" Tony asked to man, unable to understand.

"You didn't choose Mary's job," he said calmly. "You didn't make her go to work that day."

Tony licked his lips. He was trying to focus on the conversation, he really was, but his mind kept thinking back to what woke him up. He wished everything had-

"Tony." Tony blinked at the fingers snapping in front of his face and William was looking at him. "I need you to stay with me." Tony rubbed his face with his hand. "You know what this is, right?" Tony shook his head no. "These are anxiety attacks, and flashbacks."

Tony frowned and pulled his hand down, looking at the older man. "I used to get them all the time," William admitted. "After I got back from my tours of duty, PTSD."

"I'm not a soldier," Tony echoed words he had spit at Steve back up on the Hellicarrier.

"But you've seen battle," William countered. "First in Afghanistan, and just yesterday."

"I don't have PTSD," Tony bit out. "Just nightmares sometimes, it's fine." Tony pushed himself up from the couch.

"Did you have a nightmare about that portal?" William asked and Tony froze a little, shoulders hunching a little. "Was it just the portal? Or were there other things."

"I'm fine," Tony bit out. He needed to get readings from Jarvis on Mary, then needed to see if he could bug Fury again about Coulson, all the while keeping an eye on Peter. No doubt they would have to start coordinating about cleanup of the city as well. The Tower needed to be worked on again thanks to-

"No, you're kind of not," William interrupted his thought process. "But that's okay." Tony turned to look at him frowning. "You don't have to be perfect, you just have to have a plan to deal."

"I don't have time for that." Tony brought up a screen with a flick of his good wrist, showing the number of phone calls, texts, and voicemails he already had just from that morning. "There was an alien attack yesterday and-"

"You're only human," William said as he got up from the couch.

"I'm Iron Man," Tony said over him.

"When you have the suit on, yes," William agreed. "But right now, you're Tony, not even Tony Stark. You're human, and you have a son to take care of. Steve isn't always Captain America, and Mary is always Agent Parker." Tony looked at William, and his shoulders suddenly sagged, the weight of the man's words hitting him. He was right, and he was utterly exhausted with it all. He had been working non-stop since before the Expo, and then Vanko had happened. That was enough to wipe him out alone, but then Loki had appeared, and he had to change the arc reactor on the fly. Tony was immensely grateful for Bruce on that front.

Tony found himself being pushed towards the door of the workshop, William behind him. "We'll work on a plan for you later," the older man was telling him. "But right now, your Doctor friend is making breakfast, and Peter is up there waiting for his Daddy."

"I look like shit," Tony mumbled, catching a brief glance at his reflection.

"You do," William nodded and Tony's expression deadpanned. "But I bet you looked worse yesterday. Peter needs you." Tony's resolve hardened at that statement, and he nodded. Peter needed him, and he'd be damned if he let that boy down.

Steve kept his eyes on the door where Tony and William had disappeared too. Rachel had gone into Mary's room, talking to her daughter, and Steve stayed out in the hall. He felt a little awkward, but he wanted to make sure that Tony was going to be okay. He also felt a little protective, wanting to keep the grieving mother away from Tony until she could calm down.

"How can you defend him?" Steve glanced over when he heard Rachel's voice behind him. Steve raised an eyebrow. "After everything's that happened? All the trouble that follows him? He's still known as the Merchant of Death."

"You do know that what happened yesterday wasn't his fault, right?" Steve asked. He could feel the evil eye from his Ma as he talked to a woman like this, but she was directing her anger and emotions in the wrong direction. "What happened to Mary wasn't his fault either."

"If she didn't keep cavorting with him, it wouldn't have happened." Rachel crossed her arms over her chest, strong in her convictions.

"Tony actually has no say in what Mary chooses to do with her life." Steve knew this best of all, Mary being his Handler. Especially since he had figured out who Tony was, Mary didn't have to hide anything about Peter's father, and how close of friends they were. "Tony didn't even know what Mary was doing until hours after it had happened. I was there, with Peter, when Phil got the call. Tony was at the Expo."

Rachel snorted. "The Stark Expo, the monument to his ego." She rolled her eyes, but she was starting to lose her argument. "And where is he now? Downstairs, hiding, feeling sorry for himself?"

Steve frowned at her. "Tony Stark was willing to give his life to save millions yesterday, because he was the only one who could do it. There aren't many people I know who would be willing to make that call."

The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you. How Steve wished he could take back those words now.

I would just cut the wire. That was what Tony had once said. It had all been a front, that's what Tony was good at, deceiving. He had turned it into an art form, out of necessity.

"He's one of the bravest men I've known, and I fought in World War II." Steve heard the door behind him closing and he turned to see a slightly stunned Tony looking at him.

When they locked eyes Tony quickly turned, heading for the kitchen. William followed him and he caught Rachel when she went to follow Tony. He shook his head to his wife, catching her hands, kissing her knuckles. William caught Steve's eyes then, making a subtle head gesture for Steve to follow Tony. He didn't need to be told twice, following the older man out to the kitchen.

Tony had already moved Peter to his lap, a plate of waffles in front of them. "It's not Saturday, Daddy."

"But, what if I really wanted pancakes?" Tony asked the little boy, reaching his arms on either side of Peter to cut the waffles that Bruce had made. Steve went over to Bruce, nodding to him. Bruce motioned to a stack of waffles already made, various toppings sitting in smaller bowls.

"You know the rules," Peter told him, nodding like it was the simplest thing. "Only on Saturdays, or birthdays, or really special days!"

"I'm sorry, you're right," Tony nodded. "You're so smart Petey, remembering all the rules." Peter smiled, turned his little body to kiss Tony's cheek, making the man smile.

"It's okay, I'll always be here to remind you, Daddy." Peter hummed, taking his fork to eat some of the pieces of his waffle. "But, we can have pancakes tomorrow," Peter said after he swallowed his bite. Bruce and Steve glanced over at the boy. Tony didn't say anything, he looked like he hadn't even heard him.

"Why's that, Peter?" Bruce asked, and now Tony glanced up a little.

"Cause tomorrow is Daddy's birthday," Peter announced. Tony was studiously avoiding their eye contact.

Everything had happened just days before Tony's birthday? Steve looked at Bruce with big eyes. They couldn't let Tony's birthday pass like this, could they? Bruce had got to get more juice, and fill Tony's cup with coffee, leaving Steve with his lingering thoughts.

As Peter finished his breakfast, he turned and let out a little gasp. Tony set the boy down on the ground as he shouted his excitement. "Granpa! Granma!" Peter ran over and William caught him, picking him up, making an exaggerated 'oomph.'

"You're getting so big!" Peter hugged his Granpa around his neck.

"When did you get here?" Peter asked his grandparents. Steve saw Tony looking at the breakfast plate like it had the answers to the universe on it.

"Your Daddy flew us in last night," William told him as Rachel rubbed Peter's back. "We got here just after you woke up this morning."

"I'm glad you're here," he murmured.

"So are we, sweety," Rachel cooed to the little boy.

"Are you here to see Mama, too?" Peter asked, and Tony's shoulders tensed a little. Peter had fallen asleep before they had gotten back, and he wasn't sure how the little boy would take it seeing Mary.

"We are," William nodded.

"Daddy says that family has to take care of family," Peter said firmly. "That must be why he brought you here so fast. He wants you to help Mama, too."

Rachel glanced over at Tony, her expression unreadable to Steve. "You're probably right," she told Peter softly. "Let's go say hi to Mama, yeah? They say that even when people are asleep as deeply as Mama is, that they can still hear people talking to them."

"Okay," Peter said a little brightly. He turned his head to look at Tony. "Are you coming Daddy?" Tony's eyes widened marginally before returning to normal and turning his head to look at them.

"I'll be there in a couple minutes, yeah? Have to clean up the dishes from breakfast real quick." Peter nodded seriously at Tony's words. "Then we can spend however long with Mama as you want."

William and Rachel walked off with Peter, and Tony let out a big breath. He gathered the plate and two cups, taking them over to the sink. He turned, catching Steve and Bruce's eyes, before pointing between them. "The only thing that's going to happen is that someone is going to make blueberry pancakes. That's it." The two men blinked at him. "Peter expects it, but I don't want a party, I don't want a celebration. My birthday is not worth celebrating, not this year."

"How old are you going to be?" Steve asked and Tony blinked a little.

"I'll be thirty-four," Tony answered after a second. "I mean it, Rogers, no celebration."

"Why not?" This question was from Bruce this time.

"Because, yesterday, and today, was someone else's birthday," Tony answered lowly. "And aliens invaded. They might have lost someone they loved. I don't get to celebrate my birthday when someone else's day was filled with terrible sadness and fear." Steve opened his mouth but Tony was already walking out of the kitchen.

"He's takes on much more than he should," Bruce said quietly, starting to clean up the dishes, setting most of them in the dishwasher.

"Has he always done that?" Steve asked, looking over at the Doctor.

"Yes and no." Steve frowned at the non-answer. "Lately, yes, but you'd have to talk to Tony about that one. This stems from childhood issues, and I know you knew his father. I'm not about to get into that, not my story to tell."

"What if he doesn't want to tell me?" Steve asked.

"He may surprise you."


	12. May 2011 III

**A/N: Okay, here is some promised good times, inside the chapter, somewhere. :) Don't worry, I'll make up for all the pain I put the boys through! I can't make the same promises for the pain that I put you wonderful readers through... Sorry? 3**

 **Unbeta'd, and Marvel owns more of this than I do.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**

* * *

Tony sat on the floor on the side of Mary's bed, tablet balanced against his knees. He let Mary's parents have the two chairs in the room, and Peter had insisted on getting in the bed next to Mary. Tony had helped him find the best spot so that they didn't really jostle Mary's injuries. He reached up, rubbing Peter's leg absently as the boy talked to his Mama. Peter had been really quiet when they first walked in, waiting until he was able to get settled on the bed, then started talking, little tears at first.

That had been over an hour ago, and Peter was now telling Mary everything he could think of, what he wanted to do when she woke up, and how Bruce was almost as good a cook as she was. Almost.

Tony had powered on his tablet about twenty minutes into Peter's story time, hearing him start to talk about what happened on the Hellicarrier, and how he had met the real Captain America. Tony wasn't exactly waiting for a reminder of the past day's events, and he knew he could get some work done as well. He knew the Press had to be chomping at the bits for information, or blood.

There was still no word from Fury about seeing Coulson, so Tony decided to access the little bug still hidden in SHIELD's system. If Fury wouldn't tell him where the man was, then Tony would find out. He owed the man much.

'Sir, Captain Rogers would like a moment of your time when you are able.' Jarvis's text appeared across the top of the tablet. He didn't want to interrupt the family time unless it was important. 'He says that it is at your earliest convenience, and to not rush.' Tony rolled his eyes a little.

Tony moved the tablet when little arms started to slide down from the bed, and down Tony's chest. He looked up, raising an eyebrow. Peter smiled at him, half off the bed, upside down. "What are you doing? You're like a spider."

"I don't have enough legs to be a spider." Peter giggled a little. Tony wrapped an arm around Peter's waist, tickling his sides as he pulled him down into his lap. Peter giggled, kicking his feet a little as he left the bed. He snuggled into Tony's chest, laying on his side in Tony's lap. Tony's arms wrapped around his son and kissed the top of his head. He wasn't paying attention to how Mary's parents were watching him, or the soft smile on William's face.

Tony rearranged his arms, bring his tablet up to rest on one knee, one hand doing all the work of two, as his other arm was firmly around Peter, playing with the ends of his hair. Peter's hands were tracing circles over the new arc reactor, then tracing the new triangle pattern.

"Daddy?" Peter asked softly, and Tony hummed in answer. "Can you draw?"

Tony thought for a second before answering. "Not like you can," he decided on. "I draw designs, like for the arc reactor, or for the Tower that I built. But those are more blueprints." Tony knew that Peter was smart, but he also knew that his school wasn't going to be teaching the kids anything about technical design. He tried to keep things simple enough, but didn't want to insult Peter's intelligence. These were things that he would teach his son, if he had an interest in them. "My drawings consist more of rulers and straight lines, more exact measurements. Not much imagination needed on my end I'm afraid."

"Nuh uhn," Peter said, shaking his head, and Tony glanced down at him. "You have to have imagination to think of what you want that to look like. You made up the Tower on your own." Tony gave Peter a small smile and kissed his cheek.

"You're right, but you have a better imagination than me, that's for sure." Tony tapped his fingers along Peter's nose. "I've seen your drawings, you're pretty talented, kiddo."

"You hang them up around the house," Peter said with a proud smile.

"Of course I do," Tony said smiling back at him. "I want everyone who comes here to see your stuff. Cause then when they ask who made it I get to say, 'Why, that was made by my amazing son, Peter!'" Tony put on an exaggerated posh accent, stretching out his arm in show. "'Yes, I know, 'tis amazing and much better than anything that your six-year old could make. Sell it? Why I could never part with something that is considered priceless to me!'" Peter had started giggling, and it soon turned into a full bellied laugh as Tony continued with his silly voice. Tony couldn't help but grin down at his son, pressing his face to Peter's neck and blowing a raspberry, making him squeal with laughter this time

"Daddy!" He laughed and wiggled around, but didn't push Tony away. Tony cackled and lifted his shirt, blowing a raspberry on Peter's stomach this time, causing him to squeal again. "Daddy, no! That tickles!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that." Tony looked around, feigning deafness. "I was distracted by the high pitched squeals of a little boy." Tony repeated the action, making Peter squirm again with another laugh. "I think you said you wanted me to keep doing that? I mean, if you're sure!" Tony laughed and blew one more raspberry.

Peter wrapped his arms around Tony's head, trying to stop him, and kissed his face. Tony smiled at Peter, rubbing his scalp with his fingers. Peter tapped the arc reactor again lightly. "This is different." Tony let him pulled down the collar of his shirt, looking for the black lines again. "This one makes you better?"

"Yeah," Tony nodded. "This is made from a brand new element. What do you think about it?"

Peter pushed his lips a little, then moved to push Tony's shirt up, exposing the arc reactor. Tony took a slow breath, letting his son examine it, and touch it. It might always sound weird, but he's trusted Peter with the arc reactor since he was two.

"It feels different," Peter said after a few minutes, pulling Tony's shirt back down. "But, in a good way. It doesn't feel as, ummm," Peter's face crinkled as he tried to find the words to describe was he was feeling. "It doesn't feel as icky. I like this one." Tony nodded, smiling at him.

"I feel the same way, it makes me feel a lot better," Tony told him. Peter was eerily perceptive about the arc reactors. One day soon, he was going to ask him how he could know so much about it. When Peter was better able to articulate his thoughts into more scientific terms. Peter smiled, humming a little, before settling back against Tony's chest.

"Do you want me to bring you your sketchbook?" Tony asked his son a little bit later. "Maybe a book? We can read to Mama later, as well, and you know she'll love to see all your new drawings."

Peter thought about it for a little bit, then nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea."

"I know it is," Tony smirked a little at Peter. "That's why I'm the Dad." He pushed Peter's nose a little, making him scrunch up his face adorably. Tony leaned against the bed to push himself to his feet without having to let go of Peter, and arranged him back on the bed next to Mary. "I'll be right back, kiddo."

Tony stepped out of the room, closing the bedroom door lightly and headed a couple doors down to Peter's room. "Hey, Jarvis, have you located Wade and his Mother?"

"I have secured their location, and can relay that neither Wilson has been injured," his AI dutifully relayed. "I am working on contacting them, as cell towers communications have not been restored yet."

"Let me know if you still can't get a hold of them by dinner time, I'll go out and get them myself." Tony found Peter's backpack that had been on the Hellicarrier and made sure that his sketchbook and art supplies were still inside. "I'll get them a satellite phone as well if I have too."

Tony picked up the backpack and headed back out and saw Rogers waiting for him outside. "Traitor, AI," he muttered under his breath. "What can I do for you, Cap? J said you wanted to talk to me?"

Steve looked up at Tony, lost in his thoughts, surprised at the billionaire's appearance, even though he had been waiting for him. "Uh, yeah." Very intelligent, Rogers. He stood up straight from the wall to look at him.

Steve had been thinking about Bruce's words from breakfast, and it was something that Mary had said months ago as well. He needed to talk to Tony, and it would have been better if he had done it before the battle, before the Hellicarrier even, but he hadn't. Now, Steve had to try and talk to him before the aftermath of the battle happened, before debriefs and the press, and hope that it wouldn't be extremely awkward.

"Don't exhaust your vocabulary," Tony said, eyebrow raised. Steve blinked and realized that he must have been lost in thought, making Tony wait.

"Sorry," Steve said, slipping his hands in his pockets. He needed to grab some clothes from his apartment. "I didn't want to interrupt anything." He motioned towards the door.

"I'm sure I'll welcome the distraction later when Mary's Mom decides that I'm in open season again," Tony muttered.

"So, she hasn't calmed down then." Steve felt bad for Tony. He shouldn't judge, but the only interactions he's had with the woman were her putting down Tony. Steve had already done that, and he felt bad about it, Tony didn't need that from the Grandmother of his son.

"That's pretty much her normal setting." Tony shrugged a little, adjusting the small backpack. "Well, when it comes to me. She puts board meetings to shame, that's for sure. But she's good with Peter, and she never talks bad about me in front of him, so that's about all I can ask for."

"Doesn't mean you deserve any of those words," Steve insisted.

And yeah, Tony had caught the end of what he could only assume was Steve's default 'Captain-America-speech' mode when he was coming back up from the workshop. He wasn't sure why the man would say any of those words about him, maybe because he owed them since Tony had thrown himself into a space wormhole.

"I'm sure you didn't want to talk to me about bad family values," Tony told him, moving fully into the hallway now. He told Peter he'd be right back.

"No, sorry, got a little off topic." Steve rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, other hand still in his pocket. "I just wanted to say, that if you need to talk-"

"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt, but there is something that I believe would be in your best interest to see." Jarvis's voice rang in the hallway and Tony almost thanked him for distraction. Tony reached in his pocket for his phone when it buzzed with whatever Jarvis had found. There was a news clip and Tony brought it up full screen, turning the sound on.

"-a hero, and I'm so proud of him." There was a man talking to a news reporter who was back in her office. It was a satellite interview in New York, but set away from most of the destruction. There were still cleanup crews in the background, volunteers walking around, checking on people who were outside of apartment buildings. Tony glanced at the name of the man, knowing he was very familiar, and his jaw dropped.

Steve watched Tony, then moved closer when he saw the reaction to whatever Jarvis had shown him. The headline at the bottom changed from the name of the man, George Hayes, to the segment name.

'Tony Stark's Lover Speaks Out On Heroic Act'

"Lover?" Both men said, different emotions in the words.

"What the hell is he doing?" Tony exclaimed. They had broken up, they had spoken to each other in over a year, he had wanted to be with Tony for money, fame, and sex, and Tony was not looking for that for the first time in his life. Well, the sex part at least.

"Who is he?" Steve asked, looking at Tony.

"He was a three date mistake." Tony frowned as they watched the interview. He should warn Pepper, this was going to cause even more problems. Anyone that cared about Tony in anyway knew that he was bisexual, and Tony didn't care, but as far as the press knew, he was as straight as the American Hero standing next to him. There had always been rumors, but why wouldn't there be when the press loved reporting on his drinking and partying, and general debauchery. "Dammit."

"He's so not the same man that he was a few years ago, he's a surprisingly good date." The man and the reporter chuckled and Tony's hand gripped the phone so hard his knuckles were turning white. Did he think that this would be a play to try and get back together with Tony? Or was he just looking for the fifteen minutes of fame?

"Did you tell him about Peter?" Steve asked. Tony turned his head a little to look at the man.

"No, I'm not an idiot," Tony threw at him.

"That's not what I meant, Tony." Steve put his hands up in front of his chest a little. "I know you've kept Peter out of the press, and I'm just hoping that this man isn't stupid enough to say anything just because he wants a little attention."

"I didn't tell him anything," Tony grumbled, looking back down at his phone. "Like I said, I went on three dates with the guy, and it was a mistake. He wanted the prestige of saying that he slept with Tony Stark, and when I didn't give that to him, he got mad." Tony sighed, swiped the video away. As he did his phone rang, Pepper's picture popping up on screen.

Tony shoved the phone in Steve's hands, making the blonde's eyes widen. "Delay her for me."

"I'm sorry?" Steve looked at the phone that was still ringing, then back at Tony.

"I have to give this to Peter," Tony said holding up the backpack. "Delay her for a couple of minutes. I told Peter I'd be right back, and I have to let him know that I'll be a little longer. Dull transparency with the kid for a bit." Steve could understand that.

"Sure, I guess." Steve hadn't even finished the words and Tony was heading back into the bedroom. He swallowed a little and answered the phone, putting the phone to his ear. "Hel-"

"What is going on Tony?" Pepper's voice assaulted Steve's ears almost immediately. "I can't control the press as it is, but who is this clown? Did he not sign an NDA?"

"I honestly can't answers any of those questions, ma'am," Steve said, and Pepper went silent.

"Who is this?" She asked after a couple of seconds, and Steve could imagine that she thought that he was going to be the next guy to show up on the news, right next to this George character.

"Steve Rogers, Miss Potts," he answered.

"Oh. Oh!" She had put together that he was Captain America. "Where's Tony? I need to try and stay on top of, a situation."

"The man claiming to be Mr Stark's, lover?" Steve asked and he swore he heard a tiny chuckle from the woman.

"Yeah, that."

"He's with Peter right now, but he said he should only be a couple of minutes." Steve glanced over at the bedroom door.

"How is he? Peter, I mean," Pepper asked in a softer voice. "I heard about his Mom, and then Tony having to fight," she trailed off a little.

"Tony's doing his best to keep him calm, and telling him everything he knows," Steve answered truthfully. "His grandparents are here as well, so that may help. I can tell that Tony doesn't like being away from Peter, though, even if it is just in the hallway."

"Yeah, I bet." Steve could picture the red head nodding her head. "That's going to be harder to do, soon. I'm trying my best though."

Tony came out of the bedroom, eyes hooded, concealing anger, and the reason why followed him out of the bedroom. "It's always work with you, isn't it?" Rachel whispered to him as they closed the door. "You can't take the time to stay with your son, and my daughter that's hurt because of this mess? It's all about your image, isn't it?"

Tony turned on the woman, and Steve blinked. He'd seen this level of anger back on the Hellicarrier. Tony needed a break, desperately. Steve could see the cracks in Tony's armor. "First, I am trying to take all the time I can, and if I could I would never let go of my son. If you hadn't noticed, though, this city was invaded by Aliens yesterday, and I was unlucky enough to be a part of that, and that meant Peter had to be with me. So if I could shield him from everything, I would." Tony's jaw was clenched, and Steve could see him trying to keep himself from advancing on the woman.

"Second, as much as it hurts to see Mary like this, this is not my fault. This is no one's fault but the man that did that to her, and we caught that bastard. I won't stop making sure that she keeps getting the care that she needs until she's back And third, it's not all about my image, but I need to keep some kind of legacy for Peter, something Good for him to inherit so that he is haunted by my failures, and by my shadow. I need to make sure that he is able to be his own man, and do what he wants when he grows up, not make up for my mistakes."

"Who is he talking, too?" Pepper asked quietly, hearing Tony's angry voice, but not all of the words.

"It's chaos out there," Tony said, gesturing towards the outside. "And if I can stop something from adding to that chaos, then things will go much better as we try to head back towards normalcy." Steve moved forward then, wrapping an arm around Tony's waist, lifting him up and moving backwards away from Rachel. Tony growled and tried to break free of Steve's hold, but the blonde pressed the phone to Tony's ear.

"Let me go Rogers- Pepper?" He blinked, hand reaching up to grab the phone before it fell from his ear. Steve turned him around, setting him back on his feet and Tony started walking down the hall, talking to Pepper. Steve let out a little breath, before turning to look back at the woman by the bedroom door.

"Captain Rogers, I would like to inform you that Director Fury is trying to contact Sir," Jarvis announced and Steve looked up briefly. "He does not appear to be happy with the recent news."

"Tell him we're dealing with it," Steve said. Dealing with Fury was not what Tony needed as well. They were still going to be dealing with the aftermath of the invasion as well. "Under no circumstances is Fury allowed to talk with Tony right now."

"I am apt to agree, Captain."

Turning his attention back to Rachel, Steve put his hands on the front of his belt. "Ma'am, I understand that you are upset about Mary, I am as well. I worked very close with her, and I helped watch Peter. But, I would ask that you not turn that anger towards Tony."

"With all due-" Rachel started, but Steve leveled her with a look that only Captain America can use, and she stopped suddenly.

"Can I ask a question? Were you with your husband when he served in the military?" Steve asked her and she blinked. "Were you together when he came home from serving?"

"Of course," she said right away. "Mary was in college when Bill served his last tour."

"And was it easy for Mr Fitzpatrick when he came back home? Did he fall back into a normal civilian routine?" Rachel looked at Steve, looking like she was going to refute his words, then her expression changed with understanding. "I don't know what Tony saw when he got rid of the missile, but he did not come back unscathed. All people deal with their stress and fears in different ways, and I'm not sure how it works with Tony, but he needs support as well. He's used to having Mary around to help him with parenting, and going to her for help. Tony was right, it wasn't his fault what happened to Mary, but we did catch the one that was responsible, and now we just have to wait for her to wake up. Take care of her, and Peter, that's all that we can ask you and your husband to do. We'll do the rest."

Mary's mother let out a breath, looking at Steve, then nodded. "I hadn't realized that so much had happened." She didn't offer any more words and went back inside the room where the rest of her family was. Steve wasn't expecting a full turn around, but he supposed that this would be enough. Maybe it would be enough for her to back off Tony at least.

Turning around, Steve went down the hall to try and find Tony. He just had to follow his voice. "-slap him with a gag order, a restraining order for sure, I don't care." Tony would definitely need a break after this. "Anything to get him off TV." There was a pause, as Pepper was probably speaking. "I don't care what they know about my sexuality, that's never been a secret to any of the press. But this is not the time to be reporting on this kind of bullshit." Steve found Tony pacing back and forth in the main entrance.

Steve's own phone buzzed and he pulled it up seeing a text message from Natasha. Fury was apparently on the war path, thanks to the World Security Council, and she and Clint were looking to get out. Steve wiggled his nose a little, kind of wanting the rest of the team to come here, but this was Tony's house, and he didn't know if he would like, or want, that. He wanted to check in with Thor as well, they needed to make some decisions about what was going to happen with Loki, and the tesseract.

"Were the changes made to the Expo?" Steve glanced back up at Tony when he heard his voice again. Tony hummed, nodding a little. "Good, make sure there are buses there to make sure people are safe. Let the hospitals know that the jets are available for fast travel if they need medication or anything." Tony turned, and Steve could see his profile, saw the little frown that marred Tony's face. "I have no intention of leaving this house for the rest of today, or tomorrow. And I'll tell you the same thing I told Bruce and Cap this morning; I don't want a party or any kind of celebration. I'll be having pancakes with my son, and then that's that."

Pepper must have been making some kind of case as Tony's expression softened a little. "Just pancakes, Pep," Tony said quietly. He made a noise. "Yeah, you too, Pep." Another pause. "That will be all Miss Potts." Steve thought he saw the ghost of a smile. He cleared his throat softly as Tony hung up, and the older man turned his head to look over.

"Hey, uh, thanks for that, back there," Tony said, motioning back down the hall. "In-laws, that aren't technically in-laws, but they kind of are, you know." He nodded down towards Steve's hand that was still holding his phone. "Is Fury trying to court-martial me, yet?"

"Huh?" Steve glanced at his phone. "Oh! No, not yet, but he's not happy. I think that might actually be an understatement." Tony snorted and Steve smirked a little. "No, Natasha sent me a message."

"Her and Legolas stuck at SHIELD still?" Steve nodded to Tony. "Well, might as well invite them over. It's not that I want all these people in my house, but it would be better for them to just be here instead of trying to sneak inside when Fury gets too far up their asses. I've got more bedrooms upstairs anyway. I'm not sure what to do about Thor's brother, though."

Steve tilted his head a little. "You'd let Loki in your house?"

"Honestly? No. But, maybe I could show Rachel his way and let her take it all out on him." Tony's fingers of his good hand were flying over the screen of his phone. "Also, I wouldn't trust Thor and Loki alone at SHIELD, at least not with Fury. We gotta figure out something to do with the Cube, and Reindeer Games, and it'd be better if we were all in the same place. Jarvis will be able to keep people out of where they aren't supposed to go. Just have to figure out a way to contain him though," Tony murmured.

Steve watched him for a second. He was starting to piece together the enigma that was Tony Stark, starting to put together the same person that was Peter's father, and the billionaire.

* * *

Tony was sitting on the floor, next to Bruce's bedroom door, across from Mary's door, phone in his hand. His tablet was still in Mary's room, but he still had a couple things that needed his attention, and he didn't actually want to put up with Mary's mother.

Jarvis brought up the outside camera, showing Romanoff and Barton coming to the house. The door was unlocked and they walked in, each with one duffle bag over their shoulders. Steve was waiting in the foyer for them, and he put a hand on Barton's shoulder. As Tony watched them it was now obvious that Steve had worked with them before.

The door to Mary's room opened and Tony's head popped up. He saw William walking out, a sleeping Peter in his arms. Tony hopped up, slipping his phone into his pocket and walked forward, easily taking Peter from the older man. Peter's head was on Tony's shoulder and he snuggled into Tony's chest, hand pressing against the arc reactor. Tony smiled a little.

"We're gonna get some air," William said to Tony as Rachel walked out of the room as well. "Your, AI?" Tony nodded, "he said that he was alert us if anything changed, or when dinner was ready."

"Yeah, he's monitoring all of Mary's vitals, sending constant updates to her Doctors," Tony said, hand rubbing Peter's back in circles. "He pretty much knows everything." William nodded. "Oh, there are two other people here, but they'll be staying upstairs. I thought I would let you know. They helped, with the attack yesterday, so they can be trusted." Trusted enough, he didn't say. "I'm sure Jarvis has told you that there's a garden in the back, benches chairs, gazebo, pretty much everything."

"Take a minute for yourself, son," William said, patted his arm. He gave Tony a little smile, then took Rachel's hand, and they were heading down the hall.

Tony took a breath, pressing his cheek to Peter's head, closing his eyes. He took a second to just take in the moment, of his son in his arms. This was real, he was there, Peter was okay. He was breathing, asleep in his arms, and he was going to be okay. Tony would give anything to make sure that nothing else would happen to Peter, that nothing else would make him scared. A wave of terror swept over him and he opened his eyes. He couldn't help but feel that he was in over his head again, that he was going to mess everything up. Mary needed to wake up so that Tony didn't have to go through this alone, he couldn't raise Peter alone, he wasn't equipped to handle it.

Footsteps coming down the hall brought Tony's from his thoughts and he saw the three SHIELD Agents coming towards him. Barton was looking better than he had seen him during the battle, but he looked more troubled. Vaguely Tony remembered that Barton had been the one to shoot Mary in her leg. Steve directed Romanoff and Barton to Mary's door. Romanoff gave the archer a look, both having a conversation in seconds, before he went in the room alone.

"How is he?" Steve whispered, stepping closer to Tony and Peter, looking at Peter.

"He's napping," Tony replied, running his hand through Peter's shaggy hair. "William brought him out, so I'm not sure how long he's been asleep."

"Less than an hour, Sir," Jarvis supplied helpfully.

"He'll probably sleep for another forty-five minutes," Tony continued. Natasha walked over and Tony caught her eyes. "Does this mean you're officially out of my actual business?" Steve glanced between Tony and Natasha.

"I no longer have cover working for Stark Industries," she confirmed, nodding.

"I already have Jarvis scanning for any bugs or tracers that you left behind." Tony's eyes narrowed a little, but not angrily.

"I'd expect nothing less," she nodded. Her eyes went to Peter, then back to Tony. "He looks like you."

"He looks more Mary," Tony countered. "And he needs a haircut, it's starting to get shaggy, and no son of mine will start to look like a hippie."

"He likes having shorter hair," Steve agreed. "Mary put something in his hair to get it spiked up, like yours usually is," he said nodding to Tony, "and he kept asking for that the rest of the week."

"I remember that," Tony hummed, turning a smile towards the sleeping boy. "He kept putting his hand on his head, feeling the spikes, then started putting pieces of paper on top. He wanted to see how much weight his hair could hold before the product gave in." Tony rubbed his fingers through Peter's hair. "He gets the experimenting thing from Bruce, the trial and error thing. I just jump headfirst into everything."

Natasha watched him for a few seconds. "Fatherhood suits you, Stark." Tony looked up at her, frowning a little. "I've seen you before Afghanistan, and you're completely different, you're tamer, not so drunk."

"I would kill for a drink or three, don't think that's changed that much," Tony told her.

"What's stopping you?" Natasha asked him. She knew, but she wanted to hear him say it.

"I promised Mary that I would never drink in front of him," Tony told her. "And I wouldn't be around him if I've had more than two drinks."

"She put a limit on the drinks?" Steve asked.

Tony shook his head. "No, I made the limit rule. It's a personal thing." Natasha looked like she was about to say something, but Tony cut her off. "No more personal questions, we are so not a level of friends where you can ask about all that stuff."

"Was it the spying on you?" Natasha asked, a faint smirk on her lips.

"It was definitely the spying, and the lying," Tony nodded. The door to Mary's room opened a little bit and Natasha turned, walking into the room to join Barton. Tony let out a huff through his nose and leaned against the wall.

"Do you wanna keep holding him like that?" Tony had almost forgotten that Steve was there until he spoke. "Peter, I mean. Did you want to put him down in his bed? You're looking kind of tired yourself."

"I'm exhausted," Tony told him. "But, honestly? I'm probably not going to sleep for a while. I probably should have checked on how much coffee I had left here, I know I had already moved some to the Tower. Not the point, I'm sure I still have enough here to stay up, I can get a lot done."

"I didn't get a decent night sleep for the first three months," Steve said. Tony frowned a little and looked over at him, turning his body a little. "After I first woke up. I don't think I slept at all for three days, and then when my body was just too tired, that's when I slept without dreams, or memories." Tony watched the blonde slip his hands in his pockets, looking very much less Captain America, and more Steve Rogers. "I know, right now, it's not your ideal action, but if you need me too, I can watch Peter for you."

Tony nodded a little to him, biting the inside of his lip discreetly. "Thanks, Cap," he murmured. He wouldn't admit out loud that he was thankful for the offer. Tony was afraid that if he fell asleep with Peter nearby, he might not know that he was there right away, like he had when Rachel had tried to wake him up. He didn't want to hurt Peter, he would never want that to happen.

"So, the stairs over there," Tony motioned with his head to the end of the hallway, "lead up to the second floor. They can have any bedroom they want, the ones that are unlocked." Tony felt the need to leave, to take Peter and be somewhere else in the mansion. "If the door is locked, please, for the love of gods, no one go into that room. It's locked for a reason. If you need me, ask Jarvis, he can relay any messages." Tony was already moving down the hallway before Steve could say anything. Tony belatedly realized that his tablet was still in Mary's room.

Tony hurried down to the door that would lead to his workshop, Jarvis letting the door swing open for him. The workshop was safe, it was familiar. As he stepped inside, his robots rolled over to him, being careful when they saw that he was holding Peter still. He motioned to the couch that sat in the back, and the robots rolled over, pulling the blankets off with claws, trying to rearrange pillows for him. This was safe, this was familiar.

He sat down, then slid his legs up on the couch, his back against the arm of the couch. Peter made a little noise, rearranging himself in Tony's arms as he moved, but stayed asleep. Tony pulled the blanket over Peter, kissing the top of his head. "I wish I had something to help you sleep," Tony said quietly. "Something to chase away nightmares. I'm sure your Mama has something, probably some kind of lullaby, a song. I don't, I'm sorry. My Momma didn't sing to me when I was a kid. Our butler, Jarvis, he would read stories to me sometimes, when he was able." Tony very gently carded his fingers through Peter's hair, making sure the little boy was still asleep. "I know I really don't have the right to ask, but just have a little patience with me. I'm not gonna be as good as Mama, but I'm still Daddy, and I still love you. We'll get through this, until Mama wakes up." Tony wrapped his arms around Peter and listened to his breathing, the comforting, small hand over the arc reactor.

* * *

Tony had pretended to be asleep when he felt Peter wake up in the morning. After dinner Tony had made sure to take Peter to his bedroom to sleep, once again staying next to Peter the whole night. Peter had a routine on birthdays, and Bruce had promised to help him make the blueberry pancakes for Tony in the morning. So when ten minutes previous Tony felt Peter waking up, he had closed his eyes, relaxed his body, (hiding his tablet), as Peter carefully climbed down from the bed, and wandered off to the kitchen.

He rubbed his face, still feeling utterly exhausted. Steve had been right, eventually his body would become too tired, and he would sleep without any dreams. He hoped. Putting his arm over his face, he rested his eyes for just a second. He had gone over the wording for the press releases, signed the papers for the restraining order on George, and worked on a way to contain Loki so that Thor could move him over to the Manor today, and away from SHIELD.

Tony felt a hand grip his arm suddenly. It was big, strong, cold, and there were too many fingers. He shouted and tried to pull back, away from the hand, then shoved himself forward. Another hand grabbed his other arm and tried to restrain him. Tony kicked out his feet and he heard a grunt, but the hands didn't let go.

"No!" Tony shouted, growling. "You won't touch him!" He had left the voices in the wormhole, had left it all behind, he made sure that Peter would be safe! "I won't let you!"

"Tony!" It was a different voice that shouted his name, they had sent someone else. "Tony, open your eyes." Tony growled and kicked his feet again, trying to kick up where he thought a head might be. "Tony, it's Steve! Open your eyes."

They had gotten Steve? Tony blinked, and realized that his eyes weren't open. Steve was over him, holding onto his arms, keeping him from falling off the bed, not restraining him. Tony tried to pull away quickly, almost slipping off the bed again, his head headed straight for the corner of the bedside table, and Steve pulled him back up into his chest. Steve wrapped his arms around Tony's body, and he froze.

"It's alright," Steve spoke softly to him. "Peter's alright, he's in the kitchen with Bruce."

"Shit," Tony breathed. "Shit, I'm sorry, I'm fine now, I'm fine." He wiggled and Steve let up a little, but didn't completely let go.

"You have a mean kick," Steve said, causing Tony to raise an eyebrow. Oh, that's right, he had kicked Steve. "I actually felt it." There was a little lift to the side of Steve's lips. He found it funny.

"Well, years of self-defense training," Tony shrugged a little. Steve let go of Tony, but stayed next to him on the bed, just in case.

"When did you start that training? After Iron Man?" Steve moved so that they were facing each other now.

Tony snorted a little. "No, I think I started training when I was five." Steve's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I've been kidnapped sixteen times since I was four years old. Dear old Dad didn't want to keep getting ransoms, so he hired a private trainer for me."

"Sixteen times?"

Tony chuckled a little. "Kids are the first kidnapping targets, followed by the spouse."

"That's not usually what happened in my time," Steve muttered.

"Still got a lot to catch you up on then," Tony replied. "Speaking of time, what time is it?"

"Still pretty early, just after 7," Steve told him. "Peter's still making breakfast with Bruce." Tony nodded a little, rubbing his face with his hands again. "I thought I would come in and see if you were awake, they were just putting the batter in the pan." Tony hummed and nodded. "Also, thought maybe you could use this."

Tony moved his hands and saw that Steve was holding up his hand, holding a couple items that looked like bracelets, one in red, and one in white. "I don't usually do jewelry there, Cap."

"They're kind of like stress bracelets," Steve told him. He held up his other hand, and Tony could see that he was wearing a blue one and a yellow one. "When you're starting to feel stress, from memories, or a flashback, or just too many thoughts, you just snap these against your wrist." He flipped the bracelets, which looked to be made of some kind of rubber, to show that on a few spots there was a patch of hard plastic. "The sharp snap is supposed to bring you back to the present."

Tony tilted his head a little then reached out and took the bracelets from Steve's hand. He turned them over, investigating them, what they were made of, and how the simplicity worked. "Why do you have so many of them?" Tony asked, rubbing his thumb over the plastic pieces.

"I keep snapping them in half," Steve said, a little embarrassed. "They weren't exactly meant for a super soldier, so I eventually just got my own box."

Tony blinked, then let out a snort, then suddenly he was laughing. "Sorry, that shouldn't that funny, but I'm just picturing you snapping them like taffy." Steve smiled softly and Tony couldn't help but smile back. Tony slipped both bracelets over his good hand. "I'll put the other on the other hand when I get the all clear for this wrist."

"How is your wrist?" Steve asked, sounding a little guilty now.

"It's fine, Cap, don't worry about it." Tony snapped a bracelet, testing it out, and he felt the quick, sharp sting. "And don't think that I don't see what you did," he added, getting a completely innocent looking Captain America face. "I said I didn't want anything for my birthday."

"Never said it was a birthday present," Steve said with a little smirk. The little shit. "I did want to say, I'm sorry." Tony frowned. Why was he apologizing to Tony? "All those things I said, back on the Hellicarrier, none of them were warranted, or true, and-"

"That scepter was working us," Tony interrupted him. Captain America doesn't apologize to Tony Stark. "You probably felt weird at some point, all fuzzy in the head. Wasn't your fault, it's why we all kind of exploded."

"Yeah, Dr Banner mentioned something like that," Steve said. "But it doesn't mean that I should have said what I did. I made it personal."

"Yeah, well my words weren't exactly painting your praises," Tony groused. "Seriously, don't worry about it, bridge under the water. Or water under the bridge, whatever, saying never made sense anyway." Tony pushed himself to the end of the bed, getting up. "Better get down to the kitchen before Peter hunts us down. Birthday pancakes are a serious tradition, but I'm sure you know that."

Steve nodded after a beat, then got up to follow Tony. They could tell as they got closer to the kitchen, the smell of food guiding them. It smelled like Bruce was also making some hash browns, and eggs for those who didn't want pancakes.

"Happy Birthday, Daddy!" Peter exclaimed as they walked in, big grin on his face, along with some flour on his cheeks. Tony smiled at him, going over and swinging him up into his arms, dropping kisses all over his face, making Peter giggle.

"Thanks little man. Is that plate supposed to be mine?" Tony held onto Peter, motioning to a plate that was sitting on the island counter, a few stools already set in place.

"Yeah! I made those ones, Uncle Bruce helped with the stove though." Peter let Tony sit, sitting in his lap.

Tony hummed, leaning in and smelling them. "Mmmm, they smell really good. But do you know what I really feel like eating?" Peter turned his head a little to look at Tony. "I feel like eating you!" Tony started to fake chew on Peter's ear. The little boy squealed and giggled, wiggling around, Tony's arms around him keeping him in his lap. Steve and Bruce chuckled as Tony made exaggerated eating noises, making Peter laugh louder.

"Daddy! No!" Peter tried pushing Tony's face away. "You can't eat me!"

"What was that? I couldn't hear you, I was too busy eating my birthday breakfast." Tony started 'eating' him again, a new wave of laughs coming from the boy.

"You can't eat me!" Peter tried again. "I'm not food! I'm a boy!"

Tony stopped suddenly, and looked at Peter closely, narrowing his eyes as he inspected him. He hummed, then held out Peter at arm's length, the little Stark giggling and smiling. "Hmmmm, well you I guess you don't look like food. You kind of look like a boy. Are you positive?"

"Yes!" Peter exclaimed, kicking his legs a little.

Tony turned him, making his movements a little jerky, making Peter laugh more. "Hey! I know you! You're Peter!" Peter put his arms up in victory. "Why would I want to eat you?"

"Cause I'm sweet!" Tony laughed and hugged him close to his chest. Peter had a devious little grin on his face.

"Oh, you are going to be a troublemaker!" Tony smiled, turning back towards his plate of pancakes. "Alright, my little monster, help me demolish this plate of pancakes."

Steve put two glasses of juice down in front of Father and Son, and couldn't help but smile. It was just he and Bruce in the kitchen at the moment, and Steve knew that Tony felt comfortable enough to let go in front of them, to not have to put on a mask. He was slightly amazed at the quick change though, the man that was lost in his mind in the bedroom, and the father out here that acted like nothing was more important than making Peter smile. It was now Steve's mission to make sure that Tony's birthday stayed this way.


	13. May 2011 IV

**A/N: Tony and Steve have their long awaited heart to heart.**

 **Unbeta'd, and Marvel owns more of this than I do.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**

* * *

Breakfast had been thoroughly demolished once everyone had come to eat. Steve could see why Bruce had decided to make more than just pancakes. He also resolved to wake up a little earlier tomorrow to make breakfast so Bruce didn't have to keep cooking. Maybe he could make dinner tonight, and ask Peter to help. He wanted to keep things as normal as possible for the boy, like Tony was trying to do.

Steve noticed that when Natasha and Clint came down to eat, that Clint purposely distanced himself from Peter, sitting the furthest away. One would think that he was letting familiar faces surround the boy, but Natasha and Steve knew that it was because he felt guilty, thinking that he was part of the reason that Mary was in a coma. Natasha had assured Steve that she would handle that.

He thought that perhaps he would offer to take Peter back to his apartment to pack some stuff, Steve still needed to get some of his stuff from his own place. Steve wasn't sure if Tony would want to go with them, but he'd see what happened when he offered it.

Steve saw Tony hurry towards the front door, Peter quickly following behind him, an excited look on his face, and Steve knew that he had to follow as well. Tony kept looking back over his shoulder, smiling at Peter, walking just a touch faster before Peter could catch up to him, and Peter giggled a little. Tony reached the front door, opened it just enough to push his head out the door, blocking the rest of it as Peter tried to peek past him. Steve tilted his head, moving to try and look over Tony's head, but not getting too close.

"Dadddddddy," Peter whined when he couldn't get past Tony. Tony was talking quietly with someone outside, and Steve was curious. Tony peered over his shoulder, smirking at Peter, then moved as he opened the door.

"Peter!" Someone shot through the door, tackling Peter in a hug. Steve smiled as he saw Wade and Peter rolling around on the ground, laughing and hugging. Glancing up he saw Tony talking with Wade's mom, a backpack in her hands and a smile on her face. Steve headed over towards them to catch part of their conversation.

"-really can't thank you enough," Wade's mom was saying to Tony. The geniuses' hands were in his pockets, a smile on his face as he glanced back over at the boys. "Mr Rogers," she smiled at Steve as he walked over. Steve had met her a couple of times when she had brought Wade over to the apartment building. "Mr Stark said you'd be here, too. Can't help but think that this will be one of the safest places my Wade can be."

"Can't promise the boys will be safe from their adventures," Steve said with a chuckle.

"Are you sure that this is okay, Mr Stark?" She looked back at Tony, and Steve could see some shock in her eyes. She must have just found out that Tony Stark was the same as Peter's father Tony.

"Call me Tony, and yes, it's perfect even." Tony smiled at the woman. "I'm the one who found you, remember? This will be good for the boys, too." Tony looked at Steve now. "I invited them both over, but Mrs Wilson hasn't been able to get a hold of her brother-in-law. I told her that I'd send her with some volunteers and we could watch Wade."

"Of course," Steve nodded. "It'd be our pleasure in fact. I'm sure the boys have been missing each other, they haven't talked for, what? Three, four days?" Steve said, looking at Tony who was smirking.

"That's practically a year in Peter and Wade time," Tony added, snorting with a chuckle.

Mrs Wilson chuckled and smiled. "Thank you again. I'll try not to be gone too long."

"You've got the satellite phone, so you can call whenever, talk to Wade, keeps us updated," Tony said. The woman went to hand Tony the backpack, but Tony didn't take his hands from his pockets. Steve noted this, and the short look of discomfort, and Steve instantly reached over to take the bag. Mrs Wilson smiled at them, then went over to hug Wade, saying goodbye to him.

Steve had noticed before that Tony didn't take anything from anyone when it was handed over. Bruce would always put his stuff on a flat surface for him, even if he was going to just pick it up right away, and Natasha did the same last night when giving him something to drink for dinner. But Tony had taken the bracelets from Steve this morning, hadn't he?

"I'm gonna show Wade around the house!" Peter said, grinning at Tony. He ran over and hugged him, reaching up as far as he could. Tony smiled, rubbing his head.

"Be careful the locked doors, and listen to Jarvis." Both boys nodded before Peter grabbed Wade's hand and they were running down the hallway. "We can put Wade's stuff in Peter's room," Tony said, catching Steve's attention. "I'm sure they'll be staying the same room, because those two are attached at the hip, and the elbows, and the shoulders. Sometimes I think they might be the same person sometimes."

Steve followed Tony to the bedroom, putting Wade's bag on the bed. Tony grabbed his tablet from the bedside table, and turned to leave, but Steve didn't move right away, blocking the door. Tony raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't like things being handed to you, right?" Steve asked and Tony looked a little confused.

"Yeah," Tony said slowly. "Why? Did you plan on handing me stuff?"

"Well, I think I already did this morning," Steve commented. Tony blinked, his eyes blank suddenly. "When I gave you the bracelets."

"Nah," Tony shook his head. "You didn't hand them to me, you held them up, and then I reached over to take it. Completely different stuff." Steve wrinkled his brow a little. "Big difference, trust me.

"Not really that big of a difference," Steve told him. "It's not a problem, I'm just curious."

"Curious about what?" Tony asked, foot shuffling on the carpet. "Many things to be curious about, especially for you, Cap. All that time in the ice really set you back with society."

"Why don't you like to be handed stuff?" Steve asked, not really paying attention to Tony's train of thought. His mind, and words, traveled faster than Steve could even think to keep up. "Must make it hard to run a company."

"I don't run the company anymore," Tony corrected. "That's all Pepper now, being CEO." Steve just crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Tony. He wasn't going to be pushed off topic this time. The two men stared at each other for a few moments before Tony's shoulders slumped a little, giving in. "It's a long story, but I don't like the action of people handing things to me, of hands and arms coming towards me. It drove Pepper nuts for years, until finally just the repetition of her trying and doing it broke through. Pepper and Peter are the only ones who can hand stuff to me."

"Because you trust them," Steve added for him.

Tony nodded. "Because I can trust them." Steve caught the small wiggle in Tony's spine, the slight show of discomfort. "Peter is still a child, and kids are full of innocence, for the most part. And Pepper has just been with me for so long."

"She kind of scares me," Steve admitted and Tony smiled softly.

"That means you're a smart man, Rogers." Tony twirled the tablet in his hands a little. "Listen, since you've trapped me here and asked me to spill why things make me uncomfortable, you gotta do me a favor now." Steve raised an amused eyebrow. "Peter is no doubt going to want to go swimming with Wade at some point. It may not be today, may not be tomorrow, but it's going to happen." Steve nodded. The boys had wanted to go to the beach or the pool a lot last summer. "So, you get to take them swimming."

"Where am I supposed to take them?" Steve asked. He wasn't sure that many pools would be open for at least a couple more days.

"You haven't found the pool yet?" Tony asked, then shook his head a little. He pat Steve's arm, pushing a little to get him out of the door frame. Steve moved and followed Tony when he walked down the hallway, past the foyer, and then towards the back of the mansion. The passed the door that would lead out to the garden and Tony took a right. Steve caught the distinct smell of chlorine and wondered how he had missed this before. There was a glass door and Steve saw tiled floor and lounge chairs. Tony tapped a panel on the wall next to the door, and the door clicked open. He pushed the door open and Steve stepped inside, blinking. The pool had to be almost olympic sized, complete with a shallow end, and a deep end that went down fifteen feet. Two jacuzzi's sat against the wall furthest from the door, and there were other chairs, loungers, and tables sitting along the walls. The room was cool, not too warm or muggy, and when Steve walked over, crouching down to put a hand in the water, he felt the water was the perfect temperature.

Tony watched Steve walk over to the pool, his body staying by the door. The pool room really was a comfortable room, he had loved it as a child, and had had it updated a year before his parents death. When he knew that he was moving back here, he had it updated again, putting Jarvis in control of most of the room and its functions. He hadn't actually gone swimming since Afghanistan.

"This is better than the pool room at SHIELD," Steve said as he stood back up, looking back over at Tony.

"I'd hope so," Tony scoffed a little. "This isn't some shoddily run spy organization." Steve huffed out a little laugh. "Yeah, this room is open all the time, so feel free to come here when you feel like working out. I can assume you've already found the gym?" Steve's cheeks suddenly turned a little red, and Tony's raised an eyebrow. "You broke the punching bags, didn't you?" His cheeks turned a deeper shade of red and Tony couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, don't get your panties in a twist, I was kind of expecting that. Jarvis is already making some different material that should stand up a little longer to your super strength."

"Panties?" Steve raised an eyebrow at him. "You think I wear briefs?"

Tony raised both his eyebrows. "Okay, yes, I'm totally down for this game." Tony grinned then motioned with his free hand for Steve to turn in a circle. "Come on, Mr America, turn for me. I need to get a good look before I make my final judgement. And don't spin too fast, I need a good look."

"I can't tell if you actually need to look, if you're just coming up with an excuse to check me out." Steve gave Tony a cheeky smirk and Tony's mouth almost dropped open a little.

"You really are Captain Sassypants, aren't you? Forget Captain America, I'm calling you Captain Sassypants from now on," Tony teased. "Cap Sass, mmm, I like it," he nodded. Steve snorted and started to turn for Tony anyway. Tony tilted his head a little as he watched Steve's backside a little more than usual. "Cap's Ass is more like it," he murmured under his breath, but the smirk on Steve's face told him that he must have heard him. "I've made my decision, but do you wanna do one more turn for me?"

Steve laughed. "I don't think so, mister. I think you owe me a turn now." Steve twirled his finger, looking at Tony. He wanted to play this game? Oh, Tony could play with the best of them. He had been born and bred to strut his stuff. Tony put his free hand in his pocket, fisting his hand so the fabric drew a little tighter around his body. His steps were deliberate as he turned, making his posture as straight as could be, pushing his hips back a little.

It was hard not to notice Tony as he turned, and Steve's eyes were drawn to his body as he turned, something curling in his gut when he watched Tony's ass, the fabric of his pants drawn tight against the skin. A faint heat crept up his neck and he felt like he should take a dunk in the pool. Except that the water wouldn't be nearly cold enough.

Tony smirked as he faced Steve, catching the faint blush on his cheek. There was no way that America's greatest heroic symbol was actually checking out Tony. Either that, or Steve was exploring the changes of his sexuality, and Tony would feel a little proud if he was the one to make that happen.

"I think that you actually wear boxer briefs," Tony said after a few seconds, not wanting the moment to turn awkward. "That is my final decision. You don't strike me as a boxers guy, at least not in the new century."

Steve's eyes shot back up to Tony's when he started talking. He wasn't wrong. Mary had taken him out the first couple days after he woke up to get some clothes. He had been a little embarrassed that a woman, that wasn't his mother, had taken him out to buy his 'unmentionables', but he had been assured that it was just his '40's mentality talking. It helped a little that Mary had brought Peter with them, the little boy pointing to a store in the mall that "Daddy goes to all the time." Steve smirked a little, he had his answer thanks to a mini Stark.

"I feel like you have an unfair advantage," Steve said. "You've been living in this century, help shaped this century, since it started. I've only had a few years with it."

"So I'm right!" Tony declared and grinned.

"And now it's my turn," Steve said, and saw Tony give him a look. Tony thought that he was never going to be able to guess. This was going to be a good moment. "Depends on the occasion for you." Tony raised an eyebrow. "Right now? You're wearing boxer briefs as well, but that's because there are people here. When you're going to a Charity Gala you wear custom boxers, usually a soft material, but when there's some kind of party, or you're home alone and don't plan on working in the workshop, you wear nothing."

Tony's jaw dropped a little, but he quickly recovered. "That was very specific, even down to a specific kind of fabric." Tony narrowed his eyes a little at Steve, watching the man smirk a little. Then it clicked. "You little cheater! Now who has the unfair advantage? You've gotten all your answers from Mary and Peter!" Steve couldn't help it and started laughing, bending over as he laughed harder with each second. Tony bit his lip, but couldn't help it for long and joined in the laughter.

"I just used what was available to me!" Steve said through his laughs, grinning. "If it helps, I didn't remember this until after you made your guess."

"Cheating McCheaterpants," Tony point at him. "Captain McCheater."

"I thought I was Captain Sassypants?" Steve asked, arms crossed, still smiling.

"I can't deal with you!" Tony threw his hands up, turning to leave the room. Steve caught up with him quickly, walking next to him back down the hallway. "The Twenty-First Century has corrupted you Steven Rogers."

"Does that upset you?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm upset that I didn't have a direct hand in it!" Tony turned them to head back towards the front of the mansion. He wanted to get down to his workshop now, to see if Jarvis had finished production on those punching bags. "You are so not like what my Dad described-" Tony stopped abruptly. That was a train of thought that he did not need to go down, especially with the man walking next to him.

"That must have been interesting, to hear what Howard had to say," Steve commented. He had probably meant for it to be an innocent sentence. Tony had been avoiding this very topic since he found out that this was Captain America, and he himself had inadvertently brought them directly there. Tony made a decision.

"Follow me." Tony suddenly change direction, heading down the opposite hallway from the bedrooms. Steve tilted his head in confusion, but followed Tony. He had gone down this hallway, but most of the doors were closed, and he hadn't wanted to try to see if any of them were locked or not, feeling like he might be intruding on something personal.

Tony took them to the end of the hallway, to the wooden double doors. Tony reached up, and slid part of the wood panel above the door open, a key dropping into his hand. He unlocked the door, one hand on the handle, then slid the key back into the little compartment, hiding it once again. Steve caught a faint smell of dust as they stepped into the room, Tony shutting the door behind them. There was a large oak desk in the center of the room, a plush, old, leather chair tucked in behind it. There were books coverings the shelves behind the desk that ran the length of the wall, a large window with the curtains drawn to the left of the desk, and a leather couch to the right.

Steve glanced at Tony, but the man was leaning against the door frame. He made a motion with his hand, sweeping it out, encouraging him to explore the room. This was obviously an office, someone office, but it hadn't been used in years. As he walked around the other side of the desk he saw that there were some folders stacked in the center, and just a few picture frames were sitting on the desk.

This was Howard's office.

There was a picture of him and his wife, the same one that had been in his SHIELD file, sitting in a silver frame. On the other side was a picture of the founding members of SHIELD, and Steve smiled faintly. There was the young Howard Stark that Steve knew, standing next to Peggy Carter. Next to that picture was one of himself. It was after the Howling Commandos had gotten back from a mission, and Steve had been laughing at something that Bucky had said, just out of frame. Steve looked around the desk, looking back to the picture of Howard and Maria, looking for a family picture with Tony in it. But there wasn't one.

Tony saw when Steve noticed what was missing on Howard's desk, when his eyes swept over the desk a second, then a third time. Steve looked back up and caught Tony's eyes. "He did most of his work from here, he didn't like the feeling of an office in a large corporate building. He did a lot of meetings here as well, wanting to make clients feel comfortable, but to be on his territory, said that's how sharks got their prey." Tony moved from his spot and opened one of the old files sitting on the desk, spreading out some of the papers.

There was a map on a grid, most of it crossed out, coordinates written on top. One spot had been circled and colored blue. Steve glanced at the other papers, looking official and typed, and one looking like a letter. "This was the work he did trying to find you," Tony said quietly. "He had been putting together the presentation to get another ship out there to search, saying that he had new tech that could search deeper in the ocean, through the ice. I assume that's probably what SHIELD used to find you... After nearly fifty years though, the Board would need some convincing to fund the expedition again. He kept searching for you up until the day he died."

Steve looked at Tony. He was hiding a lot in his voice as he spoke. This wasn't an easy subject for the genius. "Since I can remember, Da-Howard always talked about you. When I was little, the stories I heard were the most amazing things I had ever heard. I wanted to go on adventures with the Captain, Bucky, and the Howling Commandos. Aunt Peggy-" Tony stopped and Steve looked at him with surprised eyes. Tony swallowed before continuing. "She told me a lot of stories when she would come over."

Tony walked over to a small wood hutch, pulled open a wooden door and pulled out a crystal decanter with an amber liquid inside. Tony pulled the top off and took a sniff. He closed his eyes and set it back down, leaving the top off, but didn't reach for a glass. "The stories never stopped, but they changed as I got older. I went to a lot of different boarding schools, and the teachers didn't like that I was smarter than them." Tony was looking out the window now, having pulled the curtains back a little. "I don't mean to sound like a dick, but it was true. I was always above what grade I was in, and I got bored, and I corrected the teachers. I mouthed off when they called me a cheater on tests, and I eventually would get kicked out. Howard never listened to my side of the story, just threw money at the next boarding school and shipped me off. And tell me how I would never live up to the great Captain."

Steve frowned a little. Howard wouldn't have done that, would he? Not the Howard that Steve knew at least. But if Steve really thought about it, how well did he know Howard Stark? "He started to drink, a lot," Tony continued. "I never really had a close relationship with him, or one in general." Tony put the top back on the decanter, slowly putting it back, but didn't close the door on it. "Do you know how I met Bruce? It was by accident really. Bruce is older than me. I met him after I took over Stark Industries. He had waited to schedule a meeting with me, not wanting to meet with Obadiah, and now I really can't blame him." Steve could tell there was another story there. "He told me that Howard had been funding his research, the same research that turned him into the Hulk."

Tony turned to look at Steve, the supersoldier's eyes widened in surprise. "That's not even the best part. I'm sure Jarvis told you about this?" Tony tapped his chest, the arc reactor, and Steve nodded a little.

"He told me the basics, but the older model was poisoning you?" Steve said and Tony nodded.

"While Bruce and I were working on the new model, we went through some of Howard's old stuff from SHIELD, and we found some old films. He left a message for me on one of them, and it didn't click right away, the words that he used, and Bruce didn't comment on it but I think he knew." Tony leaned against the hutch, his back to the alcohol now. "'What is, and always will be, my greatest creation, is you.' When the nicest thing you can ever remember from your father saying to you is 'Good job on not pissing off the Board', you take a line like that as hit or miss." Tony rubbed his face with his hand. "He never told me that he loved me, and then he calls me his 'greatest creation', what is that supposed to mean?"

Steve was quiet as he listened, afraid that if he said anything it would spook Tony, that he would realize where he was and stop talking. "Howard had put all of his eggs in Bruce's basket, with the research, to recreate the serum. He had told Bruce that he would give him the 'Vita Rays' needed to complete the process if Bruce could remake Erskine's formula." Tony let out a strained laugh. "His message wasn't meant to reach me when he died, it was meant to reach me after Howard used the damn serum on me." Tony saw Steve's jaw drop, "I'm a little conflicted on if it was Hero worship, or if he really did love me, enough to turn me into the next you."

"Fuck," Steve breathed out, falling back a little to lean against the front of the desk. He glanced at the map on the desk, and saw that it spanned hundreds of miles. "He became obsessed," he said quietly, putting the rest of the pieces together. "He had worked closely with Erskine, so of course he couldn't just let everything, disappear."

Tony saw the emotions flitting through Steve's eyes when he looked at him, and Tony felt vaguely uncomfortable. There was sympathy, pity, and understanding? Tony took a couple breaths. Had he really showed Howard's office to Steve, he had talked about his life with him. What was he thinking? He had let Steve practically hand him something. Mary couldn't even hand him stuff. He needed to get out of here. Tony turned, shutting the door, hiding the alcohol once again, the temptation gone, and he headed for the door.

Steve quickly followed Tony, the smaller man moving quickly. "Tony." He didn't stop at his name, kept moving. "Tony," Steve said, this time reaching out and taking a gentle hold of Tony's upper arm. He turned around quickly, looking at Steve with wide eyes, his other hand reaching up, but then resting on Steve's wrist. "If you need to talk-"

"Yeah, I got it," Tony nodded, gently pulling away from Steve. "I've got stuff in the workshop." He turned and practically jogged away, heading for the door downstairs, leaving Steve in the hallway.

"Jarvis?" Steve called out quietly.

"Yes, Captain?" The AI responded just as softly.

"Reroute all work calls to me, please? It's Tony's birthday, and he deserves a break." Jarvis responded in the positive as Steve stared down where Tony had disappeared. "Where is Dr Banner?"

"Dr Banner is making some tea in the kitchen, Captain." Steve nodded and headed for the kitchen.

Bruce was indeed in the kitchen, standing by the stove, a tea kettle hissing, but not screaming yet. There was a tea cup sitting there, with a round metal ball attached to a little chain sitting inside the empty cup. Steve cleared his throat a little, trying not to startle the Doctor. Bruce turned around and gave him a little smile. "Captain." Steve nodded his greeting and Bruce really looked at him. "Would you like some tea?"

"Ah, no, that's alright, but thank you." Steve took a seat at the same stool he had sat at for breakfast. "I was wondering if I could talk to you? About Tony?" The kettle started to whistle and Bruce turned the heat off, pouring the water into the cup, letting the tea steep. He walked over and took a seat across from Steve.

"Depends on what you want to talk about," Bruce said carefully. Steve could see that Bruce was protective of Tony, and he couldn't blame him, but now he could really see it after what Tony told him. It was no wonder why the Hulk saved Tony when he was falling back down to Earth. Steve tried to suppress the shiver of the memory.

"Tony showed me Howard's office," Steve said after a moment, thinking about how he had wanted to start the conversation. Bruce raised an eyebrow faintly. "He, uh, he told me about how Howard kept looking for me, and that he had, funded your research?"

Bruce's eyes hardened, then softened after a second. "Tony is a very bright individual." Steve nodded his agreement. "And he was still young when Howard approached me. I'm still not really sure how he had heard of my research, but that's of little importance anymore. I didn't know of what he had intended until much later."

Steve frowned a little, sitting in a bit of suspense when Bruce got up to check on his tea, adding a bit of honey to it, and coming back to his seat with the cup cradled in his hands. "I think Howard had been giving up on finding you, it had been a long time, and there was Tony, trying to show off and get his father's attention. He was sure that the Board was going to deny his request to send another team out to search for you, and so he started to come up with a back up plan."

"So, he really intended to make Tony into another Super Soldier?" Steve asked quietly. He had volunteered for it, had volunteered for the experiment. Steve had known exactly what he was getting into when he signed up, Dr Erskine had made Steve completely aware of everything that could happen and gave him every chance to back down. Tony would have been a child, and would have done it just to get his parents to notice him. If he had been given a choice.

"When Tony became CEO, I went to him," Bruce said, not answering the question. That was answer enough for Steve. "I told him about my research and what Howard had been hoping for, but I didn't tell what Howard had planned to do with it."

"How did you find out that he wanted to use it on Tony?" Steve asked the scientist, watching him sip his tea.

"About a month before he died, Howard let it slip. He was asking questions about candidates" Bruce looked at him calmly. "Said he had one in mind, when I finished the serum. He was confident that I would finish it, perfect it. Said that he was smart, had spunk, and was little, just like you had been, but he was sure that the potential was there, and that he just needed a kick in the rear." The brunette snorted a little, taking another drink from his cup. "Probably the nicest words I'd heard him say about his son," he murmured into his cup before looking back at Steve. "I had met Tony in passing a couple times before that, he was in MIT at this time, getting his graduate degrees. I didn't say anything, but when Howard left the file for his 'candidate', well, I knew it was Tony.

"You have to understand, Tony looked up to Captain America as a kid," Bruce said, catching Steve by surprise. "He has all the posters, the comics, the toys, all of that. Coulson's trading cards? Tony completed the set for him from his own personal collection."

"But, on the Hellicarrier," Steve trailed off a little.

"Easy to hold onto that child like ignorance when your Hero is supposed to be just a person printed on a piece of paper," Bruce said quietly. "Why do you think Peter has Captain America sheets? Tony introduced his son to what was his strongest ally as a kid. Everything Tony does is an attempt to not be like Howard." He leaned across the counter, really staring into Steve's eyes. "Think about every time you've heard Peter talk about his Dad, or see him interact with Tony. And think about what Tony told you earlier."

Steve did. Thought back to when he had just met Tony, in those glasses and hat, picking up Peter. When he saw him outside of Peter's school when he had to keep a low profile. How Peter would tell Steve about what he was going to do with his Dad, or what they had already done that weekend. Peter adored Tony, said that his Daddy would never let him down, that he was always there. Mary said it, too. She admitted that Tony spoiled Peter a bit, but Steve wasn't sure that the term meant the same now as it did when he was a kid. Peter was always respectful, said please and thank you, did talk over adults, very much, unless he was really excited. Mary had never really had to punish Peter, except when he would get in trouble for being gone to long with Wade on an adventure, but even afterwards she would smile fondly at Steve, tell him that she was glad he had such a loyal friend.

And Steve knew what was happening. "Tony never wants Peter to have to beg for attention," Steve nearly whispered. Bruce just took another drink from his cup, letting Steve work this one out. "He's nurtured everything that Peter has ever shown a little bit of an interest in. He gave up being a CEO to try and spend more time with Peter."

Steve suddenly felt a flush of shame sweep through his body. He had once thought that Tony was an absent father, one someone who only put in the minimum effort with Peter. He had actually thought that Peter deserved better than someone who could only 'try' to make time for their son. But, now that Steve could put all the pieces together, he saw that Tony was doing almost everything in his power to be a good Dad, without exposing Peter to the tabloid sharks. It had to be hard, and it was only going to get harder.

Bruce was humming, getting up from his seat and going over to the sink. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to check on the two little troublemakers, then go out to the gardens." He left with a small smile on his face, empty tea cup washed out, humming softly. Steve blinked a little. He wanted to talk to Tony.

* * *

The first thing Tony did was put the workshop in lockdown, Jarvis under orders to not disturb him unless it was for Peter. What had he just done? He took Steve to Howard's office, then just, spilled his soul. They had been having fun in the pool room, and yes, he could admit that he had been checking out Steve's ass, and he could have just left it at that.

Tony groaned, falling onto the couch, pressing his face into one of the pillows. What was wrong with him? Sure, he had known Steve for over a year, technically, and he turned out to be the man that he had idolized as a kid, (and maybe an adult), but that didn't mean that he trusted him. Right?

He was just all knotted up from not sleeping, and George being a dick, that was all. He knew that Peter would be happy now that Wade was here, so he had that going for him. He was sure that he could get through dinner relatively quietly, since he had already had his birthday pancakes, and the day would end relatively peacefully. He wished that Mary was awake.

Jarvis informed him that the new punching bags would be ready shortly after dinner. And when Tony went to his own bedroom to try and get some rest, Tony would suddenly find a reason to put them up.

His body was tired, he felt sluggish as he crawled into his ignored bed. Wade was asleep in Peter's room, both sleeping peacefully, and Wade's mom calling after dinner to wish her son a good night. Tony flopped down on his stomach, mumbling nonsense into the blankets, closing his eyes.

He took a breath, rolled onto his back, then let out a sigh. Sleep wasn't going to come to him. He opened his eyes and let out a gasp. Obadiah was standing above him, a grim smile on his face, eyes sunken in, his face gaunt. His skeletal hand reached out, coming down over his arc reactor. Tony's hand shot out, grabbing his wrist to stop him and let out a shot of surprise when he looked at the hand. It was grey and strong, with one too many fingers, and when he looked back up he saw a bloody mouth behind a golden mask with a dark hood over eyes.

"No!" Tony kicked up and rolled. He opened his eyes and saw that he was on the floor now, breathing heavily, his room empty. He took a deep breath, hand going to rest over his arc reactor, feeling the buzz, and feeling his heart hammering in his chest. There was no way that he was going to get to sleep tonight.

"Jarvis, lights," Tony murmured, pushing himself up. He was in sweat pants, but pulled off his t-shirt that was drenched in sweat now. As he pulled on a new shirt, he slipped on his shoes, heading down to the workshop, snapping the bracelets the entire way down. Maybe he could get the punching bags up before Steve woke up, surprise him at his next workout.

He wasn't expecting the man to be awake and already in the gym though. Tony stared as he watched the man in his routine, just wailing on the punching bag already there. He had a rhythm going, and he kept getting faster, head hunched down, balled up fist smacking the bag audibly, muscles rippling along his arms and into his back, and Tony could definitely see that through the white t-shirt.

Both Tony and Steve jumped when Tony accidentally dropped the punching bag. "Tony?" Steve asked, panting through his workout.

"Uh, yeah, hey, sorry." Tony quickly pulled the bag back up, but not picking it up. "Um, the new punching bags are done, and I thought I would put them up, and I didn't think that you would be here."

"At three in the morning?" Steve asked, walking over. He easily lifted the punching bag up with one arm, walked back over to take down the old one that was covered in duct tape, and hooked up the new one. Tony walked over, leaning down to examine the old one. It was literally being held together by many pieces of duct tape, and even that was starting to fray. Steve had been here for less than three days, how had he worn through even the duct tape this much?

"Yeah, you know me, I keep strange hours," Tony murmured, before standing up again. He saw Steve's bright blue eyes looking at him and Tony had to bite the inside of his cheek. "I tried to sleep again and had a nightmare," Tony confessed. "What are you doing awake so early? Because this is early even for you."

Steve rubbed the back of his neck a little. "I've had a lot on my mind today, and I couldn't get to sleep."

"And beating on a stuffed bag helps?" Tony asked, pushing the old bag further off to the side.

"Sometimes." Tony looked at Steve.

"But not this time?" He asked.

Steve shook his head. "Not really."

Tony chew on his bottom lip a little with his canines. "Uh, wanna talk about it?" Steve looked at him a little surprised.

"I would, but, I'm not sure if you do," he said hesitantly. Tony made a little 'o' with his mouth. Steve was thinking about the stuff that he had shown him earlier. What hell, he was already this far down the rabbit hole of bad decisions, and he had just had a nightmare that he was eager to forget. Even Howard was better than what he saw.

"Sure, why not," Tony said. He grabbed the hook of the old punching bag and pulled it over to the wall. He went over and grabbed some tape and started to wrap his hands. "Let's talk and hit, yeah? Seriously, any topic, don't feel the need to shy away from anything." Steve raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean it, it's you and me and Jarvis in here, and whatever happens in here, stays in here, if it gets awkward and all." He stepped behind the punching bag, putting his hands on it, and nodded to Steve. "Let's go, Romeo." Romeo? What the hell, Stark?

Steve blinked a few more times, watching Tony. The man looked tired, but he could tell that he still knew what he was talking about. Steve gave a few test punches, feeling the new fabric against his taped knuckles. "I talked to Dr Banner today."

"You're allowed to call him Bruce all the time now," Tony told him, watching Steve's form. "You don't have to switch back and forth, I think you've earned the right to a first name basis."

"Okay," Steve said, letting his punches become a little harder, seeing that Tony could take it without being pushed backwards by the force. "I talked to Bruce, about his past research, with your Dad, er, Howard."

"Sometimes I still call Howard Dad, it's okay," Tony said, a little smirk on his face.

"Well, I just, it's hard to reconcile the man that I knew, and the man that was actually your dad," Steve admitted. "But I didn't know him that long. I didn't actually see him that often during the war."

"Having big important war time missions to stop Hydra would kind of put a damper in that," Tony said, nodding.

"I just, it's hard to think that someone would try and force the changes the serum gives on someone," Steve said, frowning, looking at the punching bag. "I like to think that Howard was different than the bad guys we were fighting back in the war, but he would have forced that on you. That's not what a father should be like." Tony could tell that he was getting more upset, more force pushing against him as Steve hit harder. He changed his stance, putting more force into holding the punching bag still. "And I know that Bruce didn't know what he wanted to do at first, and it makes me upset that he was trying to use him to do something like that. You were his son."

"Some people just aren't meant to be parents," Tony said, and he saw the frown deepen on Steve's face, his blue eyes becoming cloudier. This was really bothering the man. "It's why I was very careful, well, until I met Mary. Probably a good thing I don't drink as often anymore."

Steve stopped, panting again and looked at Tony. "You are an amazing father," Steve said with such heat that Tony had to blink, a little startled. "You are the best father that Peter could ever ask for, and he's a lucky little boy, and no one else can say otherwise." Tony was about to open his mouth, to calm Steve down, but the bigger man continued. "I was wrong to think what I did about you, when I first woke up, before even meeting you, and after meeting you. I thought that you were a deadbeat dad, but you weren't, you were just working with the deck stacked against you. And you went and proved everyone wrong!"

Tony's eyes were a little wide, his mouth hanging open slightly, shocked at the words that were aimed for him. Steve moved from the front of the punching bag, standing in front of Tony and putting his hands on Tony's shoulders. "You are an amazing man, and I'm sorry that I may have indirectly lead you to buy into the thoughts that you aren't."

"I'm really not that amazing," Tony said quietly. "I have a large laundry list of flaws."

"That's what makes you human," Steve said. "I'm really not perfect, despite what everyone says or think." Tony snorted a little. "I'm serious, I'm stubborn to the ends of the earth, and I never back down from a fight. I'm mouthy and I'm fiercely protective of those I care about, almost down to a dangerous level."

"I'm volatile, self-obsessed and work-obsessed, don't play well with others, text book narcissistic, alcoholic," Tony listed off almost immediately, and Steve started to shake his head.

"Maybe you used to be an alcoholic, but you can control yourself around Peter," Steve started to refute.

"I could fall off the wagon at any time," Tony argued.

"I think if that were really true, you would have done it already," Steve said, with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, if something were going to drive a man to drink, it would be what you went through, and the resulting nightmares." Tony grumbled, but didn't say anything. "And if you really couldn't play well with others, we wouldn't have worked as a team so well out there. But you're also Peter-obsessed, and that's not a bad thing."

"Were you talking to Pepper too?" Tony accused, narrowing his eyes a little. "Did she tell you to say all this?"

"No," Steve shook his head. "I wouldn't have stayed here if I really meant everything I said up on the Hellicerrier," he said quietly, taking a step closer to Tony. "You were right though, about me, taking care of Peter. Before, becoming this, I had always thought that I never would have a family, and afterwards, there was just the war to think about." Steve looked to the side, his hands slipping down on Tony's arms. "When I woke up, Mary gave me a choice, and time to think. I could do just about anything that I wanted, and there was that option. And then I met Peter, and he was just, he was so amazing, and I swore to protect him with everything in me."

"Cap," Tony breathed. He hadn't meant to say any of that stuff to him, he hadn't meant it. "I didn't-"

"I was a little jealous," Steve admitted and Tony frowned. "Peter talks about you all the time, and I thought that I would never have that, never had a kid of my own talking about me like that to someone."

"It's the opposite when he's with me," Tony said quickly, and Steve looked up at him. "He's always talking about you, when he's with me, that is. You teach him how to draw, and you're teaching him about how colors work. I can't do that, I'm more suited to the science stuff, the logical numbers, I can't do the art, and spatial awareness thinking." Tony moved one of his hands to rest on Steve's upper arm. "I'm sure Mary told you, but yeah, I was jealous of you, too. You didn't have to hide when you went to pick up Peter from school, or take him out to the park. For fuck sake, you were the one I told to take care of my son when I flew up into the wormhole! I trust you with his life, to raise him,..." Tony trailed off and swallowed thickly.

"I don't like to be handed things because when I would try to show my Dad stuff he would slap it from my hands," Tony confessed, speaking quickly, and if Steve hadn't of been looking at Tony he might have missed it. "When hands come towards me I think that I've done something wrong, and that I'm going to be punished for it, because for as much as I'm adult I can't help but to revert to a child being demeaned by their father."

Steve reached up slowly, gently, cupping Tony's cheek. Tony closed his eyes tightly, trying not to lean into the warm hand. Jarvis, the human, had been the last one to cup his cheek like that, when he had been dying. As much as he tried to stop it, a tear slid down his cheek and Steve's thumb wiped the tear away. Steve's other hand rested against the side of his neck, curving around to the back.

"Tony," Steve said quietly, drawing Tony's eyes open. He was staring straight into clear blue eyes, stunning azure eyes that begged to take Tony's breath away. Steve leaned his head in, enough that Tony knew what he wanted to do, and he didn't hesitate to meet him the rest of the way, his hand sliding up to the back of Steve's neck. Steve's lips were warm, and soft against his, the kiss was gentle, but the need was there.

Steve pulled back a couple centimeters, still feeling Tony's hand on the back of his neck. "I don't mean to push-" Tony pulled him back down, kissing him again, drawing a soft moan from Steve when he started to pull on Steve's bottom lip with his teeth.

Tony leaned his forehead against Steve's, eyes closed, both of them panting a little. "Sir, Young Master Peter seems to be having a nightmare." Tony's eyes flew open at Jarvis's voice.

"Sorry, I just, Peter," Tony breathed before letting go of Steve and running for the exit. He was aware that Steve was following behind him, and a little bit of warmth lit up in his chest. Tony opened the door and saw that Wade was sitting up in the bed, arms wrapped around Peter, who was lightly crying into the older boys shirt. Big brown eyes looked up at Tony as he and Steve slid into Peter's room and Tony was already moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Hey, Peter," Tony said softly, and Wade moved Peter a little so that he could see Tony.

"Daddy," Peter's lip wibbled and threw himself against Tony. Tony wrapped his arms around his tightly, kissing the top of his head, rubbing his back, sussing softly.

"I'm here, Petey, I'm right here." He rested his head gently on top of Peter's head. He was vaguely aware of Steve moving to the other side of the bed and sitting down. When he moved his eyes to look, Wade was sitting against Steve's side, watching his best friend. Steve's head leaned down to talk to Wade quietly, rubbing his arm. Wade nodded at something that Steve said.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Tony asked his son and felt his little head nod. "Do you wanna tell me about it?" There was no answer, Peter sniffing, hands gripping Tony's shirt. "You know, I had a nightmare tonight, too," Tony told him. Peter moved his head, peering up at him. "They get scary, don't they?" Peter nodded. "But they're just dreams, and they're not real, and if we can just open our eyes, then it all goes away." Tony wished it could be that easy. "Did Wade help you wake up?" Another nod.

"I heard him moving on the bed," Wade said and Tony looked over towards him. "And then I thought I heard him talking, and I knew that he was having a dream."

"He talked to me until you came," Peter said softly.

"Good thing you have such a good friend, huh?" Tony smiled softly at Peter, running his hand through his hair. "How about the four of us go to the kitchen, have a late night snack of some hot chocolate? Then we can all watch a movie."

"Wade and I can stay up with you and Mr Steve?" Peter asked, and Tony glanced over to see a small smile on Steve's face.

"Yeah, you guys can stay up with us," Tony said, dropping another kiss on the top of Peter's head.


	14. May 2011 V

**A/N: Fluff, so much fluff. Your teeth will rot. You have been warned. Little bits of Angst, determined Tony, Sassy Steve, adorable Peter, cute Wade, and fluff.**

 **So this story will officially become a series. I have an idea of where I want this one to end, where it'll feel natural, and then I'll probably launch right into the next story. Most of them will be multi-chapter fics, and I'll throw in some one-shots here and there. Most will probably be scenes that occur during time-jumps, or stuff that just doesn't fit into a chapter. I can't wait guys! So, here is a special, fun, chapter for you all!**

 **Also, I'm posting some screenshots of the program that I use to try and keep everything in some kind of timeline order, so I remember what's happened and when. It's another peek into my crazy mind. You can find it over at my tumblr (megaranoelle. tumblr. com)**  
 **I'm also thinking in the future (near future), if people are interested, in making gift fics, because that's fun. More into that later.**

 **Unbeta'd, and Marvel owns more of this than I do.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**

* * *

Steve was sitting with the two boys in the living room while Tony was making the hot cocoa. He claimed that Steve couldn't be in the kitchen because he was making his secret hot cocoa, and it was a family recipe that no one else could know. Peter claimed that it would be worth it. Steve let Peter and Wade pick a spot on the couch, and then go through the movie list. Steve had told Wade that he had done a good job with helping Peter in the bedroom while Tony was comforting the younger boy. Wade seemed to have done this before, and Steve was curious about why a young boy knew how to comfort night terrors.

"My mom is sick." Steve was pulled from his thoughts by the sounds of Wade's voice. The boy was young, he had just turned 9, barely over two years older than Peter, but he spoke with a confidence in his voice that Steve expected to hear from teenagers. Peter was leaning against Wade's side, looking at Steve, too. "She has bad cancer."

"Wade can tell what people are thinking sometimes," Peter told him. He was sounding calmed down a lot from the nightmare now.

"Sometimes my mom had bad nights, when she can't sleep," Wade continued. "And I can't sleep, and then I'll sit with her. She can't work sometimes, but I know that she's gone to find Jackson because he helps her with the cancer."

"Is he a doctor?" Steve asked, turning and facing the boys. Wade hummed and nodded.

"But she doesn't get better," Wade said. Peter seemed to burrow into Wade's side a little more, wrapping the big blanket around them tighter. Tony came out with a platter of a mugs, setting them down on the coffee table. He glanced at them and raised an eyebrow. "I was telling Mr Steve that my Mom is sick with cancer." Tony's eyes widened a little.

"How do you know so much about this?" Tony asked softly as he sat on the other side of the boys, so he and Steve were on either side of them.

"She tried to hide it from me, but I talked to Jackson about it, too," Wade said as if it made all the sense in the world.

"Is Jackson who she went to go look for?" Tony asked, and Wade nodded.

"He helps her, gives her medicine to try and make her feel better." Tony handed Peter his cocoa, then handed a mug to Wade, who took a drink right away. "This is really good!"

"It's Daddy's Mama's special drink," Peter told him with a smile.

Tony was chewing on the inside of his cheek at Wade's words. He wondered how bad the boys Mom was, what kind of cancer she had, and if she should really be out and about. He was glad that he hadn't sent her out alone, and the volunteers would have called if something had happened. But in the morning Tony wanted to talk to her, he could help her.

Steve reached over the back of the couch, tapping Tony's head with his finger, drawing him back from his thoughts. Tony shot Steve a little smile, a movie lighting up the TV screen in the living room. It didn't take long until the boys had finished their hot cocoa, and it had the desired effects that Tony had expected. Barely half way through the movie and they had fallen asleep, Peter leaning into Tony, and Wade leaning into Steve.

Tony watched Steve pull part of the blanket over Wade, adjusting him so that he was comfortable, but careful not to wake him up. A little part of Tony said that Steve was good with kids, but he had always known that. Steve would make a good dad, and that thought was the one that worried Tony a little.

His mind took him back to the gym, how they had been talking, and suddenly, they weren't. He could still feel Steve's hand against his cheek, and Tony knew he was going to be in trouble if that happened again. Steve was going to want to have a conversation about what happened, and Tony knew that they would need it, but he also really didn't want to have that awkward conversation. It would be better to just not let it happen again, no matter how good all of it had felt.

Even the kiss had been amazing, and Tony had kissed a lot of people in his time. The two kisses with Steve had been so much better than any kiss he had had with George, and that had been Tony's latest, and rare, attempt at something serious.

Steve rubbed Wade's arm as he slept, the movie still going, but his mind was on Tony. He wasn't sure what had come over him, why he had stepped to Tony like he did, but he didn't regret it. When he touched Tony, and saw him practically cry at the touch, he felt something tight in his chest. Tony hadn't been the first man that he had kissed, there had been an Allied soldier in France on one of their missions, but he hadn't kissed like Tony had.

Perhaps the past few months, all the avoiding that Steve had done to Tony, was trying to tell him something. Maybe it was like when little kids had a crush, and they would pull hair, and kick toys, instead of being nice. Maybe Tony was his schoolyard crush, and his mind, and body, was trying to tell him now that maybe it was something else.

He had gotten to know Tony the father, then he found out that he was Howard's son, and he had trouble putting those two together, or maybe separating them. Was he really as mad at Tony as he thought he had been? Or was he just having his own issues with the identity reveal? They had worked well together during the battle, really well, and Steve had been devastated when thought that Tony was gone. Was that the wake up call his mind needed? He and Tony needed to have a talk, and even Steve knew that that was easier said than done.

* * *

Steve made a noise as he shifted, a blanket falling away from his shoulders. He opened his eyes, realizing that he had fallen asleep, and there was light streaming in through the windows now. He had fallen asleep on the couch. Looking around he noted that Tony, Peter, and Wade were gone, but someone had placed a blanket over him.

He pushed the blanket off and got up, heading for the hallway of bedrooms. The door to Peter's room was partially open, and when he peeked his head inside he saw that Peter and Wade were both asleep on the bed, looking much more peaceful than earlier that morning. He let out a little breath of relief at seeing them there. He moved to go check in Tony's bedroom, and saw that Mary's door was open a little. There was a voice talking inside, low and quiet.

Tony had went into Mary's room after putting the boys to bed, drawing a blanket up and over Steve. He had sat there in silence for hours, watching Mary sleep, thinking about what needed to be done, (he would be checking in with SHIELD today about Phil again), and of course, Steve. "What do I do, Mary?" He asked quietly. "He's Steve Rogers, saintly Captain America, and I'm the definition of debauchery. It's not cool to develop a crush on your childhood hero, and then to act on it, especially when said hero is also your own child's hero. This is all sorts of messed up."

He leaned back in the chair by her bed, tapping on his arc reactor. "What the hell is wrong with me? This is what I'm worrying about? I have to worry about Peter, and make sure that you're alright, and, Phil, and that's not even on top of the destruction to the city, and did you know about Wade's mother? I mean, you probably did, you were always better with other parents. I'm really kind of anti-social when you think about it. Not good at personal interactions, at all." Tony let out a breath. "I can just continue on, cause we said it, what happens in the gym, stays in the gym. That's a legit excuse, right?"

"It's a shit excuse, and you know it." Tony jumped at the voice behind him, nearly falling out of the chair, and turned around to glare at the intruder. The red-headed assassin gave him a little smirk. "You have to remember that you aren't the only ones who wake up in the middle of the night as well," she told him.

"You saw us?" Tony frowned a little.

"You didn't even bother to close the gym door," she retorted, leaning against the door frame. "Do you regret it?"

"I'm not having this conversation with you," Tony said, slumping back down into the chair.

"Yeah, but you have no intention of having this conversation at all, do you?" Natasha guessed and Tony wrinkled his nose up. "So might as well have it with me." Tony wasn't looking at her, and missed the pointed look out the door. "Do you regret it?" She asked again.

"No," Tony answered, staring at Mary's bed. He'd rather be having this conversation with her.

"But?" Natasha prompted after a couple seconds of silence.

"It's all ill-timed don't you think?" Tony turned his head to look at her. "Just after, whatever the hell we all went through, and I'm not exactly the most stable person in the world. There's a reason that I've been single for so long."

"Because you've been trying to protect yourself, and your son," she told him. "That much is obvious from the douche that plastered himself all over TV." Tony groaned. "Tell me you didn't seriously date him."

"Three dates," Tony grumbled. "That was it, and those I regret."

"But not what happened with Steve?" Tony raised an eyebrow at Natasha. "I'm just saying, you don't have to treat this the same. Steve knows about Peter, and Peter knows about him, so there's nothing to hide, or to try and protect."

"He's going to have his own problems to deal with, soon," Tony said, trying to throw the attention off of him. "It's not everyday that the world sees a long lost superhero come back from the dead."

"Most people won't believe that it's actually him, and he won't actually have to deal with that much if he decides to ignore the media," Natasha threw back.

"Well, in my life, I don't have that luxury," Tony said with a snort. "I've spent over six years trying to keep my son from the spotlight that is my life, and thanks to Loki, that's probably going to be ruined. Which, he's going to be here later today with Thor, just to let you know." Natasha's eyes narrowed a little, but she didn't comment on the new information. "If there were even a chance that anything would happen past what happened in the gym, then Steve would have to be ready to handle the press, no two ways around it."

"Steve's a big boy, he can take care of himself," she told him. "He's had over a year to start to get used to things. And he would be a very good ally to have with Peter. You already know that Mary trusts him."

"Why are you suddenly on Team Steve?" Tony looked at her and frowned.

"I've always been on Team Steve," Natasha said. "I've worked with him before, and I only spied on you." Tony gave her a little sneer. "But, with what I know about both of you, you'd work well together. You two would never be bored, that's for sure." She looked at him and shrugged a little, before turning on her heal and walking out. Tony sighed and looked back at Mary.

"How can you work with these people? They would drive me nuts." He slouched in the chair. "My life is so messed up."

Steve looked at Natasha as she walked out and he followed her down the hall a bit. "That doesn't count as a talk, just so you know," Steve said to her.

"Yeah, but it's as close as a talk as you're going to get for at least a couple days," Natasha countered. "Even if he doesn't know that you heard everything. What are your thoughts?"

"That I may have become more determined," Steve said. Natasha smirked.

"You're not doing this just to make yourself feel better because of what you used to think about him, are you?" Natasha looked at him. "He's not a charity case, and he's not a damsel in distress."

"I know that." Steve frowned. "It's not like I'm expecting to jump into something serious, because I don't think either of us is ready for that, yet." Natasha smirked at him, but didn't say anything. "I mean, not to say that I've been giving deep thought to anything, but it's not like I haven't given it any thought at all, but-"

"Would you like some advice?" Natasha asked him suddenly, mercifully cutting off his rambling. "Tony displays classic signs of touch deprivation. Try working with that, little things like touches on the arm, or back, pressing shoulders or knees together. If you're the touchy feely kind of guy that is, I don't know." She shrugged her shoulder, heading up the stairs back to her bedroom, going to check on Clint. "Good luck, Captain."

Steve followed her with his eyes. Classic signs? That wasn't something that he had ever heard of back in the 30's and 40's, so how was he supposed to know. But he could admit that her advice wasn't bad, and it was something that he could do, and maybe it would give Tony the time and space he needed. Steve could help, he wanted to help, and he could put up with the press or anything else that Tony worried about. He headed for the kitchen now, his goal to make breakfast for everyone this time.

Tony tore himself away from Mary's room, checked in on Peter and Wade to make sure they were still sleeping, then went back downstairs. He slipped into the underground garage where he had moved most of the cars, and set up a space that he was sure would contain Loki. Thor had assured him that shackles around his wrist dampened his magic to a point where he couldn't use it, so he just had to create something that would keep Loki in one place. Tony had gone the route of an electric fence, like a bad dog that couldn't stay in its own yard.

There was a cot against the wall, and he had even put a couple of books in there. Thor said he was waiting to gather the energy needed to go back to Asgard, or some such medieval thing, Tony wasn't exactly sure. All Tony had heard was that Loki might be staying there for a little bit, and even Tony wasn't cruel enough to not give someone something to do.

Tony went to all four corners, checking that the transmitters were working and hooked up to the system. There was the chip sitting in the leather cuff on the cot, and Tony thought that he would be able to slip it underneath the shackles on Loki's wrist, where the man wouldn't be able to get to it if Thor tightened them enough.

When he was satisfied that everything was working and would be ready, he changed the program on his Starkpad and brought up the system that was still running in SHIELD's systems, while he headed back for his workshop. No word from Fury yet, so now Tony had to take it into his own hands. The bug had been low level searching, avoiding anything that the agency was doing to update their security, gathering all the needed information to bypass it as it was implemented.

Tony hummed, looking through updated files on all of the Avengers, which he supposed they officially were now, which was kind of weird to think about. He went through and took out any information that linked Peter to him, because he still didn't trust SHIELD, and didn't want Peter's life in danger. The important people who needed to know about Peter knew through Tony himself, that was enough.

He stopped when he saw a file that had been tried to be redacted, but his bug had copied it first, making a ghost file for Tony. He frowned as he opened it, seeing a lot of medical jargon. Tony didn't think that would be out of the ordinary, there were a lot of SHIELD agents that had been injured during the attack on the Hellicarrier, but this was different, someone was trying to hide this file. It looked like it had been entered into the system for all of three minutes. That was enough time for someone to enter it, print it off to make a manual file, and then remove it from the system. It was considered a Level Seven security clearance.

Tony brought the pages up in front of him, blue glow of the hologram in front of him, eyes skimming over all the words at once. He was barely aware of the door opening behind him when he realized what he was looking at. Tony's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened, shock and anger coursing through him.

"Tony!" Tony jumped when Steve's hand reached his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"No," Tony breathed, shaking his head. He looked at Steve, then back to the words in front of him, gesturing helplessly. "Coulson isn't dead." His hands circled around the files, brain working double time to actually comprehend what he was seeing. "He's not dead, but SHIELD is hiding him. They want us to keep thinking that he is. The bastards have no intention of telling us!"

Steve stared at what Tony was seeing, blinking rapidly. They had seen the blood on the cards though, on the wall. But they had never seen the body. "Dammit," Steve breathed out. When Tony started to swipe through files he stopped on a picture, and Steve had to turn, punching a dent into one of Tony's tables. There was Phil, in a hospital bed hooked up to a lot of the same machines that Mary was here in Tony's house, and looking alive by the heart monitor in the picture.

"I'm going to get him," Tony growled out. The files disappeared, the tablet turning off. "I'm bringing him back here." Steve grabbed Tony's arm, and his eyes flared with anger. "Don't even think about stopping me! There's nothing there they can do that I can't-"

"I'm going with you," Steve said, cutting off Tony's rant. His eyes were bright, a fire lit behind them. "You're going to need help getting him out." Tony looked at him then nodded once. "I'll get Barton and Romanoff, they'll know how to find him, and the best way to transport him."

"I have a truck," Tony said. Steve had a point about the transporting part, he hadn't thought that part through. "If we can get a stretcher, I'm sure we can make it work." Steve nodded and put a hand on Tony's back as they headed up for the stairs. They were going to get the man back. Tony would put a second bed in Mary's room if he had, too, if it meant that they would heal better, being together. But Coulson was a tying factor to all of the Avengers, to everyone that was in Tony's house.

In the end it was decided that Bruce would stay with the Fitzpatrick's to watch Peter and Wade, and Bruce would be able to keep Peter from seeing Loki again when they got back, Tony didn't want another reason for his son to have a nightmare. Clint and Natasha had come in a borrowed vehicle, and they said it would be better for them, plus Tony and Steve, to drive that back to SHIELD, then take a Quinjet back to the mansion. There was enough space to land on the helicopter landing on top of the mansion, even if it would draw a little bit of attention, and the Quinjet would be the easiest way to transport Coulson.

Natasha had done all the talking, and Clint looked about as ready to murder someone as Tony was feeling. They had no idea that the man was still alive, either. They would go with the excuse of picking up Loki and Thor, not wanting to transport them in a mere vehicle, in case someone got a little too curious, and the people of New York decided to take justice into their own hands. It was true though, a riot was not needed in the still rebuilding streets of New York.

"My doctors are setting up in the room next to Mary's," Tony said from the back, sitting next to Steve, looking down at his phone. "The room should be all set for when we get there, and I'll transmit all information to them

"You two should go talk to Fury, tell him and Hill that you're here for Thor and Loki," Natasha said from the front passenger seat. "It'll distract them enough for us to get to Coulson and get him to a Quinjet."

"Isn't it going to be hard to transport him from the room to the hangar?" Steve asked them. Tony looked up at the question.

"This isn't our first rodeo, Captain," Clint said with a small smirk. "You just worry about Fury and Hill, and getting Loki and Thor to the hangar. We'll need ten minutes."

"We can buy you the time," Steve said, and Tony nodded, agreeing. They'd give them all the time in the world.

Parking, the four split into the two groups, and Tony walked next to Steve as they headed for the level where they were supposed to meet with Thor. In the elevator Tony glanced at Steve, and the taller man moved a little closer to Tony, letting their shoulders almost touch. Tony resolutely did not think about how the small motion calmed him down a little.

"Friends," they heard Thor call to them as they walked down the hall. He was standing outside of a door, no doubt Loki's holding cell, and he smiled at them. "Tis a generous offer from you, Man of Iron, to give shelter until I am able to return to Asgard with my brother, and the tesseract."

"You'll be taking it back with you?" Steve asked when they stopped in front of the blonde man.

"Yes," Thor nodded. "It is where it belongs, having been lost from my father's vault many years ago. It has proven to not be safe here on Midgard."

"Not arguing with you on that one," Tony said, hands in his pockets. "It'll be a shame to see a possible source of clean energy go, but there are way too many volatile activities it could be used for. I don't think my Tower could take another hit from that thing."

"I am sorry for the destruction that was wrought to your Tower, and to this city," Thor said solemnly.

"Don't worry about it big guy, well, at least about the Tower," Tony said with a shrug. "So, it's possible to adjust Loki's pretty bracelets, right?" Thor tilted his head in question. "I have a way to contain him, and it'll work best if I'm able to put a thin cuff around one wrist, and I thought we could hide it under his own shackles, so it's harder for him to try and get off."

"Ah, yes," Thor nodded. "Indeed, this is something that can be done. I am merely waiting for your Director's return with the tesseract, and then we will be able to depart."

"We're getting the transportation ready," Steve told him, glancing down the hall. Tony could hear the boots of Fury coming, and assumed that Agent Hill would be right behind him. Steve glanced at Tony, silently reminding him to try and keep his cool, they couldn't jeopardize their plan yet. Tony just gave him a nod.

"Captain, Stark," Fury said as they approached the small group. "I see you're ready to take a couple things off our hands?"

"Can't say I'm not glad to see them go," Hill murmured, handing Thor a bottle of water. IN her other hand she held a silver briefcase, one that no doubt held the tesseract. Thor nodded to them, and opened the door behind him, Tony closely following behind him. He could stand to be in a room with Loki again over Fury, and wasn't that just peachy.

Loki was sitting, and he had a new accessory, something over his mouth, that actually looked a little painful. If the glare he leveled at Thor was anything to go by, it must have been. Steve had walked in as well, and frowned a little when he saw the mouth piece. "Is that necessary?" Steve asked, glancing between Thor and Fury.

"I like to think that it is," Fury spoke up first. "I was getting tired of hearing his voice."

"Can he do any magic with just his voice?" Steve asked, this time looking at Thor. Thor had gone over to Loki and carefully removed the gag, handing the bottle of water to Loki. The skin was red where the gag had been.

"Not with the shackles on," Thor told them.

Tony stole a glance at his watch. They still needed to buy some time, and at this rate they were going to be ready to go in less than two minutes. Tony looked at Steve, then walked over to Thor and Loki, feeling Steve's blue eyes on him. "Thor, do you mind if I take a look at that? I can't stop the curiosity in me." Thor nodded, handing over the gag, before helping Loki stand. It was eerie that he was so silent now.

Tony turned over the Asgardian metal carefully, and winced a little when he saw what looked to be little metal burrs on the inside. They looked like they would be painful. "Why does it feel like they made this specifically for you Prancer?" Maybe it he could antagonize Loki a little, it would buy them the few extra minutes they would need. "Legends call you Silvertongue, right?" Loki turned his glare to Tony now. "Have they used it on you before? Just how much does it hurt?"

"I could show you, if it would satisfy your curiosity." Tony turned a little to look at Loki when he suddenly moved. It was faster than anyone thought that he would be able at the moment, and in one second Loki had grabbed Tony's hands with his bound ones, slammed his hands up and smirked a bit when the gag latched onto Tony's face.

The room exploded with shouting and moving, Thor grabbing Loki's arms and pulling him back, shoving him up against the opposite wall, Steve shouting Tony's name and lunging towards Tony, Fury and Hill each drawing their weapons to point at Loki, who had started to actually giggle. Tony gasped, then felt the burs dig in around his lips, fine silver points easily sinking into the skin. Pain flared up and he felt Steve's hands catching his arms, holding him up.

Tony's eyes had widened, and his breathing picked up. "Tony, listen to me," Steve said, catching Tony's attention. "Stay calm, don't move." Tony, being who he was and unable to resist moving his mouth, tried to talk and ended up moaning in pain, a moan that was quickly turning into something more strangled. His gripped Steve's arms tight with his hands. "Thor! How do you get this thing off!"

"It is imperative that he not move," Thor growled out, his glare still focused on Loki. "There are latches at either side that will need to be pressed carefully, and slowly removed. If it is done too quickly the skin will tear."

Steve could feel a fine tremble in Tony's hands as amber eyes opened to meet his. He must have heard Thor's words. "Hands on my shoulders, Tony." Tony nodded, slowly moving his hands up to grip Steve's shoulders. "I'm gonna do this slowly, I'm gonna get this off, alright? I'm sorry if it hurts." Tony rolled his eyes a little, a sign of 'Get on with it.' Steve took a couple of breaths and reached both his hands up to one side of Tony's face, feeling for a latch, and gently lifting it. Tony winced a little, but otherwise didn't move. He could hear the hard breaths coming from Tony's nose, his hands moving to the other side. The second latch was lifted, and Tony closed his eyes tightly. The gag hadn't just fallen right off, it was still clinging to Tony's mouth. Not Steve knew why Thor had said to remove it slowly.

Careful hands gripped the metal on either side, and slowly started to pull. Steve felt a little resistance, and he tried not to think about what was happening. When Tony was finally free of the odd device, he took a gasping breath. Steve saw the fine pinpricks of blood around his mouth and on his lips, then looked inside the gag and saw the metal burrs.

Tony let go of Steve, turning on Loki, brought his hand back and launched a well place punch to Loki's jaw, sliding his arm in right past Thor. Loki let out a huff, stopping giggling, and just smirked a bit. "I believe that answers your questions, does it not?" Tony wound back, and punched Loki one more time.

"Tony," Steve put a hand on Tony's shoulder, but didn't pull him back. It wasn't that Loki didn't deserve it. Thor took the gag back, placing it back over Loki's mouth, for a few minutes not feeling so bad about it, and Tony took a couple steps back. Steve saw Tony glance at his watch and blinked. Tony had been buying them time. He probably hadn't planned on Loki's reaction, but he had tried to start an argument to buy them more time.

"I have the perfect place to put him," Tony growled under his breath. "Let's just get out of here." He tried to dodge Steve's hand when he tried to look at his mouth. He grabbed the briefcase that that Hill had dropped to the floor when she pulled her weapon and walked out of the room. Thor walked behind Loki, guiding him out of the room, Steve following. Today was already turning out to be an interesting day, and it wasn't even lunch time.

Natasha was waiting for them in the hanger, standing by one of the quinjets, the engines already going, ready to take off. "About time, she said when they walked out. "I want to get back before the guys eat all of the bacon." She gave a short nod to Fury and Hill, Thor and Loki were next, Tony following with a bit of space, and Steve after him. Steve made sure that the back of the quinjet was raising before anyone could say anything and Clint was already taking off.

Tony put the briefcase down, furthest away from Loki, and he and Steve followed Natasha off to the side. Thor was looking over quizzically as well. "You took the whole hospital bed?" Steve looked at the red-head as Tony went about checking Coulson's chart. Tucked into the corner and strapped down was Phil Coulson, asleep and unconscious in the hospital bed, with minimal equipment surrounding him. The sounds of the engines had drown out the sound of beeping machines.

"It was easier," she said shrugging, moving to the co-pilot seat besides Clint. "We didn't want to move him to another bed, it was faster this way as well."

Steve shook his head a little and looked at Tony. "Well, it was nearly as bad as Fury made it out to be, he doesn't even have to be on oxygen." Tony flipped through a couple of pages. "The spear nicked one of the ventricles to the heart, but they emergency surgery to fix that, and they've kept him in a drug induced coma to make sure that it heals correctly." Tony took pictures of the pages, sending them to the doctors at the mansion. "I think he should be awake by the end of the week at most." Steve nodded, letting out a little smile. They needed a win in their column right now. They would deal with Fury later.

"Then the Son of Coul will make a full recovery?" Thor asked, a smile on his face. Steve nodded, and Thor's smile brightened more. "I am glad that the Gods smile upon him so kindly."

"So am I," Tony said quietly, Steve's supesoldier hearing picking it up.

* * *

Tony went with Clint, and Thor to make sure that Loki would be secure, and Steve went with Natasha to watch the doctors check over Coulson. The conferred with everything that Tony had said on the ride back, took some mobile xrays, and what they told Steve was a mobile CAT scan machine, but it just looked like the oddest thing he had ever seen. Steve also wondered where Tony kept all this stuff.

Steve was talking to Mary's doctor in the hall when Tony came back up. "Mr Stark," the doctor greeted. "As I was telling Captain Rogers, Miss Parker is recovering nicely. Her breaks are healing cleanly, which is the best we could have hoped for. She will need some light physical therapy when she wakes up-"

"Do you know when she might wake up?" Tony interrupted. Steve nudged his arm a little, and Tony gave a little apologetic wince to the Doc.

She just smiled at Tony, then shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't. We're keeping a close eye on brain wave activities, looking for swelling, but sometimes the body just does what it wants to do. I know that isn't the answer that you were hoping for, but I can be positive that she will wake up." Tony let out a little sigh and nodded. "I can give you good news on Mr Coulson, though." Both Tony and Steve perked a little bit at that. "We're going to bring him back to the waking world tomorrow afternoon if all our tests come back positively."

"So soon?" Steve asked, a little furrow between his brows. "That won't hurt him, or damage the surgery that he had?"

"Not in the least," she shook her head. "We actually need him awake to see how well the surgery will hold. His heart has been controlled to work at a regular constant, but we need to get his heart used to working at its normal paces. It will help him heal as well, I'm very confident in his recovery."

"So, full disclosure," Tony started, "Agent and Mary are dating, relatively seriously, too." The Doctor glanced at Steve for a second, and he just motioned between to Coulson's room. Steve was actually a little happy to hear Tony going back to calling Coulson by his ridiculous nickname. "As soon as he wakes up, he's gonna wanna go see his lady love, so what are the chances that he can move from the bed?"

"Not very high for the first day or two," she said. "We want to get his heart working at normal pace again, but the stress of walking might overdo it right away."

"What about putting him in a wheelchair?" Steve asked.

"I'll consider it," she told them. "It'll just depend on how things go tomorrow." She nodded to the men, and went back to find her colleagues.

Tony let out a breath, nodding a little. Steve put a hand on his arm and he found Steve's blue eyes. He was smiling at him a little and Tony returned it. "So, I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do, but I'm thinking of not telling Peter until tomorrow," Tony said, a little wince on his face. "And only because, I want him to see Agent when he's awake. Don't wanna traumatize the kid with another sleeping person, and have him think that he might not wake up, too."

Steve blinked a little, wondering why Tony was telling him this, then he realized that Tony was kind of asking his opinion. "I would say that that's probably not a bad idea," Steve said carefully. "I'm usually not for keeping something from anyone, especially Peter, but he's been through a lot the past few days." Tony nodded a little, his fingers starting to snap in a nervous habit. Steve touched Tony's elbow, and the man stopped snapping and looked at Steve. "Why don't you go in and see him first."

"Ah, no, I don't have too, I mean," Tony started to ramble, taking a step back. "You probably knew him better, I mean, he had your cards. I'm just the one that brings the doctors and makes sure that everyone gets better, saving the world and all that-"

"You're more than that," Steve said to him. "You led the damn charge to go down and get Coulson."

"No, no," Tony shook his head. "I found the information, then Natasha and Clint came up with the plan."

"You were a man on a mission," Steve told him. "When you found out that he was still alive, you were ready to set fire to something. And then, when we needed more time, you did something incredibly stupid, but you bought time for Clint and Natasha." Steve's thumb brushed gently by Tony's mouth. The marks would heal without issues. "That was all you, and you did that without any prompting, because you care. None of us would be here if it wasn't for you, and that means you matter."

Tony looked at Steve as he spoke, a little taken aback if he were honest with himself, and he saw the fire in Steve's eyes, but it was a good thing. But then he saw something else, and it really hit Tony then, Steve was still young, like really young. He had gone into the war barely over Twenty, and that was all he had known after that. Steve was still stuck in a Twenty-Six year old body, never really having grown up, had fun, done everything he should have been doing in his Twenties.

While Tony wasn't that much older than him, he had done so much more, and had actually been able to live. Shit, what was Tony thinking, why was Steve Rogers giving him a pep talk? This kid had had to grow up way to fast, at much too young an age, even before becoming Captain America. Tony couldn't trap him in any kind of relationship with him, he was too messed up for that.

Tony suddenly reached up, putting a hand on Steve's cheek, and Steve stopped talking. He turned his head a little, almost hesitantly, and kissed Tony's palm. "Tony?"

"Sorry, just, my mind wandered a little," Tony said softly. "Listen, I'm serious, you go in there first and I'll make sure everything is set up with the doctors, get them whatever they need. Gotta check in with Petey, too." Tony pulled his hand back and was heading down the hallway at a quick pace, leaving a slightly stunned Steve in his place.

Tony found Bruce first, he was sitting out in the covered patio, windows open to let the breeze, and the smell of the gardens in. There was a teapot there, and an empty mug of tea in front of him, and he was sitting on the ground. Tony walked over, sitting next to him, and Tony thought he had been silent, but Bruce opened an eye to look at him.

"Peter and Wade are with his grandparents," Bruce told him. "They went out into the gardens." Tony nodded a little. "I'm glad I've already had my tea. Spill."

Tony twitched his nose a little, then poured more tea in the mug for Bruce. "When Cap came to talk to you yesterday, was it awkward?" What kind of opening line was that?

"What is it that you have discovered?" Bruce asked, ignoring Tony's question. "What possible thing would be important enough to try and talk yourself out pursuing anything with Steve?" Tony looked over at the older man. "Please, I've known you for like, fifteen years now, Tony. I knew you before you hired Pepper. You're both attracted to each other, and only you could possibly find a reason to not pursue a relationship with him. I know this, because I did in fact talk with him yesterday, and I know he's not the one about to say no."

"He's still just a baby, Bruce," Tony whined a little. "He went into the war at drinking age, for fucks sake, and then he never really, left the war. He fell in the ship, and he came out here, and I'm sure Mary did what she could, and then he was suddenly Captain America again when Loki came, and he's never been able to grow up."

"So that makes him incapable of making his own decisions?" Bruce asked carefully. "And he's only about seven years younger than you, that's not much of an age difference." Tony scrunched up his face.

"He shouldn't choose to be with someone like me. I've got anxiety attacks, and nightmares, and so many Daddy issues it's not funny," Tony moaned a little. "I'm already a father, and sure my son likes him, but that doesn't mean he's ready to be a dad-"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that he's told you that he was," Bruce threw in.

"-but he should be finding someone who's stable. And possibly female. Not that I'm judging, because, hello, if there was another species out there that actually looked hot, I'm pretty sure I'd be there."

Bruce snorted. "No, you wouldn't, not anymore."

"Well, I would have!" Tony snapped a little. "But's that's not the point. The point is Rogers."

"The point is that you like him a hell of a lot more than you thought," the older man inferred. "And it's scaring you."

"And it's scaring me," Tony admitted softly. "How are you always able to do that?"

"Because I know you, Tony, sometimes I know you better than you know yourself." Bruce took a sip of his tea. "So, before you think that you're robbing the cradle, or whatever, really think about what it is you want. If you want to start something with Steve, that's fine, and if you want to move slow, that's okay, too. Think about what you want in the future, then decide if that's something you think you could give him, and yourself."

"I've got to think about Peter, too," Tony said weakly. They both knew that was a non-issue, Peter adored Steve.

"If you were in a relationship with Steve, would you try to make him happy?" Bruce was looking out the window at the gardens as he spoke. Tony envied how peaceful he could be sometimes.

"Of course I would," Tony said. "If I was in a relationship, I would try and take it seriously."

Bruce just hummed and nodded. "Then I think that you have your answer." Tony watched Bruce for a few quiet moments. He knew that he owed Bruce a lot, probably his life. If it hadn't been for him figuring out what Howard had been up too, it would probably be Tony that was trying to keep a rage monster behind bars all the time. That wouldn't have ended well.

"Thanks, Bruce." Tony pushed himself up, leaving the patio, taking a turn and walking out into the gardens. He could hear the voices of Peter and Wade, it sounded like they were playing tag or something, and Tony knew just where to head. He turned through some bushes, to the center of the garden where there were chairs, and a large circular area that his mother had set up for entertaining. Rachel was sitting in one of the chair, underneath the large umbrella, while William was walking around, Peter holding onto one leg, and Wade holding onto the other. Tony smiled as he watched them.

"Daddy!" Peter spotted Tony and grinned, hopping down to the ground and running towards Tony. Tony reached down and grabbed Peter, swinging him around once, then hugging him tightly. "Hi, Daddy," he giggled, hugging him back. "You missed breakfast."

"I did, but I'm back now," he smiled at him, walking over to the little group. "Did you eat all your food?"

"Yup!" Peter nodded, smiling. "And I drank all my juice, too."

"That's my boy," Tony said, kissing his cheek. He set Peter down, then ruffled Wade's hair, chuckled when the boy tried to wiggle away from the hand. "And did you eat all your breakfast, Wade?"

"Sure did," he said with a grin. "Mr Steve is a really good cook." Peter nodded along with the statement. "He said that he'd take us swimming later today, too."

"Are you gonna come swimming with us, Daddy?" Peter asked, both boys looking up at him with brown eyes shining.

Tony blinked a little. "I'll come down to the pool with you, sure." He didn't have to go swimming, all he had to do was be in the same room with them. He'd be fine. The two boys whooped and went running back inside. "Don't run so fast in the house!" He shouted after them, and the retreating steps became quieter as they slowed down. "Thank you!"

"Where did you disappear to this morning?" Rachel asked from her seat.

"I had to go pick up the last of our teammates." He let the sentence soak in for a second, waited for Rachel to brim with anger, her mouth opening to berate him again. "And I found Phil Coulson alive, and brought him back here." And then he watched the anger drain from her face, along with a little bit of color.

"What?" William stepped closer to Tony. "But, I thought-"

"We all thought that," Tony told him seriously. "They were lying to us, trying to hide it, and I couldn't stand for that. So we went down there and brought him back here." Tony let a little smile escape when William started to grin. "He's gonna be fine, and the doctors say that he should be awake tomorrow. I don't want to tell Peter until he wakes up, though, because it'll be a nice surprise I think."

"That's good work, Tony," William said, clapping a hand on his arm. "That's real good work. Mary'll be real happy about that when she wakes up." Tony smiled and nodded.

* * *

Steve was searching through ebay, (with Jarvis's help), looking for some replacement Captain America cards, when Peter and Wade ran up to him. They stopped inches away from his legs, and they both stared at him, quietly, something brewing behind their eyes. Steve raised his head a little to look at them. These two were going to be troublemakers as they got older.

"May I help you two?" Steve asked them after several seconds of silence.

"Can we go swimming now?" Peter asked quietly, smiling.

"It's been an hour after lunch," Wade added in. Now that Steve looked at them, they were holding their hands behind their backs as well.

"Alright, but you have to get all your swim stuff ready," Steve told them.

"We're already wearing our suits," Peter informed him, smiling.

"And our towels are waiting in the pool room," Wade said after him.

Steve chuckled a little at them. "Alright, let's go swimming."

Peter and Wade shared a look, then grinned, and suddenly they were moving their arms, jumping on Steve. His eyes widened as the boys launched their surprise attack, but within seconds they were gone, running towards the pool room, giggling. Steve had floaties around his wrists and ankles, and there was a small inner-tube around his neck.

"Ah, so they attacked you," Tony said with amusement from the entryway of the living room. Steve turned to look at him, seeing him in board shorts and a blank tank-top. He threw a bundle of clothes at Steve, and he caught them on reflex. "There's a changing room inside the pool room, I'm pretty sure those trunks should fit you. Come on, Soldier, before they come back and attack you with pool noodles."

Steve pushed himself up from the couch, putting the tablet down on the coffee table, and following Tony. "Pool noodles?"

"Large foam things that are used in pools. They're supposed to help float in the water, but human ingenuity turned them into so many other things," Tony chuckled. "I'm sure you'll see them in all their glory in the pool."

"Those don't exactly look like swim trunks to me," Steve said as he look at what Tony was wearing, pushing the door to the pool room open for him. Peter and Wade were throwing different pool toys in the pool, and Steve pulled all the floaties off, throwing those in the shallow end as well.

"That's because I don't swim," Tony said casually, grabbing a pile of towels, lining them up on a table.

"You don't know how to swim?" Steve asked, a little shocked that he wouldn't have gotten lessons.

"No, I said I don't swim, not that I don't know how." Tony corrected him. He looked passed Steve for a second. "Alright, you two can get in now," he called, the two boys jumped into the water. Jarvis had put up a floating barrier that let the boys know where not to go, where it would be far too deep for them. "The changing room is right over that way." Tony motioned with both of his arms like Vanna White showing off a prize, giving a wide, cheesy, grin to go with it. "I have to watch the boys until you get back."

Steve could hear the splashing behind him, and headed for the changing room. He couldn't help but wonder why Tony didn't swim, but figured that he would tell him in his own time.

Tony could definitely admire Steve's body when he came out in the blue swim trunks, and got into the pool with the boys. Like Tony had predicted, Steve became well acquainted with the pool noodles. He was sitting in one of the loungers, some yellow colors sunglasses on, arms behind his head, just enjoying the temperature controlled room, and the sounds of splashing and laughing.

Tony's phone buzzed from the table, and he reached over to grab after letting out a breath. He looked at it and saw that it was the satellite phone he had given to Wade's mom. He caught Steve's attention, pointed to the phone, then the door. The blonde nodded, and went back to his pool noodle battle against Peter and Wade. Tony stepped just outside the door and answered the phone.

"Hello," Tony greet with a smile. The joy in the pool room had become a little infectious. "Tony Stark's Water World at your service, how can I help you?"

There was a little chuckle over the phone, but it sounded a little forced and Tony frowned a little. "Hi Mr Stark," Mrs Wilson said, and she sounded tired, or something. "Sounds like the boys must be having a lot of fun."

"They are," he said. "Are you okay?"

"Of course," she said a little too quickly.

"Wade told us about your cancer last night." Tony winced a little. He really had no tact sometimes. "Sorry, I didn't-"

"It's alright," she assured him. "He worries sometimes."

"Did you find Jackson?" There was a pause and Tony really didn't like that.

"He didn't make it, he was in Midtown during the attack." She turned away from the phone, but Tony still heard her air stealing cough. Tony bit the inside of his cheek.

"Listen, get yourself to a hospital, Julie," Tony told her when he was sure she was back at the phone. "There's one in Queens that won't be as busy."

"Mr Stark-"

"Call me Tony, in fact, tell them that Tony Stark sent you," he continued. "Wade told us about Jackson, that he helps you. I'm assuming it's because your job doesn't exactly offer amazing health benefits."

"I can't ask you to-"

"You're not asking me anything." Tony had a soft spot for single parents. When Peter had first met Wade, he had done the over protective father thing and looked up Wade Wilson, and his family. His mom, Julie Wilson, was divorced from her husband, who worked in the military. It had taken a little bit of digging, but he found buried reports of abuse, and that's why she had left.

"I happen to know that they have an excellent cancer center at the hospital, and they'll give you any treatment that you need." And if he happened to know a few people on the Board of the hospital, well that never hurt as well. "You're sick, I can hear it," his voice softened. "Wade can stay here with us as long you need, and when you get checked in, I'll bring him over to visit you."

"He'll worry, for sure," she agreed.

"Yeah, but you'll be able to tell him that you'll be okay," Tony said. "I know I don't know you that well, like, at all, but, Wade's a good kid, and he means a lot to Peter, and you mean a lot to Wade." Tony stuck his hand in his pocket, shrugging a little to himself. "I'm an engineer, a mechanic, I like to fix things, it's what I'm good at."

There was a soft laugh, and he finally heard a smile in the voice on the line. "Alright, I'll go." Tony smiled a little. "Thank you Mr-Tony."

"Yeah, yeah," Tony said waving his hand, unable to talk without his hands even over the phone. "Shoot me a call once you're all settled, or if you run into any trouble. I'll get that little spitfire of a kid over to see you after that." She thanked him again and the line disconnected.

Tony stepped back into the pool room, and saw that the pool noodle battles were over. Steve was trying to weave the pool noodles together to make some kind of raft. "Daddy! Come help us!" Peter called when he saw that he was back. Tony swallowed a little and walked over to the side of the pool, sitting down on the edge, and slowly letting his feet dip into the water.

"Go ahead and bring that over here." He motioned to Steve. "Let the engineer fix this." Steve walked over with the pool noodles, his first attempt already starting to unravel. "Wet noodles are the worst." Tony shot Steve a little smirk, and brought the water toys up into his lap. Steve rolled his eyes a little, but Tony could see the smirk at his lips.

* * *

"You know how you wanted to get back to your apartment?" Tony asked Steve, leaning the doorway to his bedroom. "Well, wanna head on over to Queens with me and the boys?"

Steve had been looking at his lack of clean clothes after showering off from the pool. "Yeah, sure," he nodded. "When were you thinking of heading out?"

"In about fifteen minutes?" Steve raised an eyebrow. Tony just smiled at him. A very familiar smile that he had seen on Peter's face just a couple of hours ago. Faux innocence.

"Why so quickly?" Steve asked as he opened the dresser and pulled out his last pair of jeans that were clean. He really needed the clothes. He was probably going to have settle for the one red shirt he had left as well. Steve had planned on going back yesterday to grab some clothes, but then, well, Tony had happened.

Steve glanced over when Tony didn't answer right away and saw Tony shuffling his shoe against the ground. That was a sign that Tony had done something spontaneously, something that wasn't a surprise to anyone that knew him, but wasn't sure how everyone else was going to react.

"Wade's mom is over there, and she may be an inpatient at the moment, because that Jackson she was trying find didn't actually make it and now she has no meds-" He stopped when Steve placed both hands on Tony's shoulder.

"So, we're taking Wade to go see his mom." Tony nodded. "Alright, then. I needed some more clothes from my apartment, and I could pick up my laptop and a couple books." Steve said casually as he walked around the room, grabbing his pants, shirt, and socks. "Then we can get Peter's stuff together, and some of Mary's stuff." Steve sent a smile Tony's way. "I'll be ready in ten, by the way."

"Right! Ten minutes, got it," Tony nodded and wandered off, probably back to his room, or to get Wade and Peter.

The ride itself wasn't too exciting. Tony took his own sedan, finally getting one so he didn't have to keep borrowing the town car form Happy, and took other exit from the underground garage, where they would be seen by practically no one. Wade and Peter were in the back, playing a game together on one of Tony's tablets, and Steve was in the passenger seat. All the bridges were open again for traffic, and heading into the city were a lot of trucks carrying supplies, and volunteers mostly, and it made Steve smile a little to see everyone coming together. He wished that he could do more, to be out there helping everyone, but public opinion was split about the Avengers, about whether they had actually done more damage with their actions, or if they were even safe to have around. He didn't need to be a reason to set back any of the efforts.

Tony reached over, poking his cheek as they drove away from the damage, eyes still on the road. "You sense of duty is speaking," he said, "and it's loud." Tony glanced over at him real quick. "I know you want to help, but we just gotta lay low right now. We saved the world, I think that we're allowed to take a little break."

"But we caused a lot of the damage," Steve argued weakly.

"We did what we had to do," Tony replied. "If we had tried to do it without any damage, then a lot more people would have died. I'm not happy about the destruction, but we tried to keep it to a minimum." Steve nodded. He knew that it made sense, and there would probably be plenty of options for him to try and make up for it later, but he still wanted to help, it was ingrained in his bones. "I gotta start rebuilding the Tower, you can help me with that," Tony offered.

"No offense, Tony, but I don't think that the Tower is of national importance," Steve told him.

"It is to me, and I've got no work crews," Tony kept going. "I've sent them all off to help rebuild around the city, still on the clock. And I've spoken with Pepper, and we've already rerouted a lot of funds to go towards rebuilding and volunteer efforts. The Expo Venues have been refitted to house those who lost their homes, or who can't get to their homes right now. We've got soup kitchens and food pantries coming as well to make sure that they get food. With the exception of the Expo, it's all done anonymously. The donations will show up in the expense reports at the end of the quarter, for those that like to try and check the spending of big businesses, but I don't care about the publicity. It's all about getting the city back on its feet again."

"Please tell me that you're hearing yourself right now," Steve said, looking at Tony, pulling a glance towards Steve before looking back at the road. "What you just told me was some of the most selfless stuff I've heard come out of your mouth, or from anyone for a while actually."

Tony wiggled in his seat a little, the high praise making him uncomfortable. "Yeah, well, you know," he shrugged casually, playing it off. "It's just my way of telling you that I need help with the Tower, and you'll still be helping and all that. I'm working on some redesigns for the Tower, and I think you're just the man to help me with it. Plus you know, you're helping."

Steve let out a little chuckle. "Yeah, alright, I'm in."

Once they had crossed the bridge it didn't take too long to get out to the apartment building. Tony and Steve had decided that it would be easier for Steve to take Peter through the apartments to get their stuff, and Tony would go with Wade to the hospital. The hospital was only a couple minutes away from the apartments so Tony and Wade would most likely be back by the time Steve and Peter were done. Tony leaned back to kiss Peter's head when he and Steve got out of the car, waiting until they were inside before heading to the hospital.

He had told Wade that his Mom had to go somewhere else to get some medicine, that she hadn't been able to get to Jackson. Tony wasn't sure if Wade had been close to Jackson or not, and didn't really feel that he should be the one to tell him he was dead. Tony glanced in the mirror to check on Wade every so often, watching the boy continue the came on the tablet.

When they got to the hospital Tony slipped on his ball cap and sunglasses, grabbed Wade's backpack, and took Wade's hand as they walked into the hospital. Wade looked at the hospital, looking to see how high up it went, and how many buildings there were. The doors opened for them and Tony went up to the front desk to check in. Tony had requested that Julie come to this hospital because visitors were required to check in, and Tony had handled the privacy of her visitors list himself. Just in case.

"We're here to see Julie Wilson," Tony said, watching Wade inspect around the desk. He was very curious.

The receptionist typed something in the computer, and Tony knew what was coming. "I'm sorry, Sir, but I don't see-"

"Sorry, I forgot, I'm here to request the pleasure of visiting with Mrs Wilson." Tony had not forgotten, he had expressly told them to turn away anyone who didn't say that phrase, or something very close to it. The receptionist smiled and nodded, pulling out two visitor passes.

"If I could just get your names, and see some ID," she said putting a clipboard up on the desk with a pen.

"You wanna write your own name, kiddo?" Tony asked Wade. He grabbed the clipboard and pen and handed it to Wade as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket, flipping the leather open and pulling out his ID. He handed it to her and watched her slide it through a small scanner.

"I'm done," Wade said, tugging on Tony's pant leg. Tony tapped the counter with a finger and Wade leaned up to put it there. As he signed his name he saw the receptionist pause before trying to hand the ID back. He flashed a smile, tapping the spot next to the clipboard with one finger, and then pushed the clipboard back to her. As he slid the ID back in his wallet he took Wade's hand again.

"Have a nice evening ma'am." The woman blinked, then smiled and nodded to him, watching them head towards the elevators. Tony clipped his pass to the bottom of his shirt, then clipped the other badge to Wade's sleeve, making him giggle a little.

Up the elevator to the fifth floor, Tony nodded to the nurses at their station, and put his hands on top of Wade's head, steering him down the hall and around the corner. Julie's door was closed, and Tony knocked twice before pushing it open.

"Mom!" Wade smiled and hurried in when he saw his mom in the bed. He quickly climbed up and let the woman pull him into a hug. Tony walked in and pushed the door closed before taking a seat in one of the plush chairs by the bed.

"Have you been good for Mr Stark, baby?" Julie asked Wade, messing with a little cowlick on the top of his head.

"Yup," he nodded, little hands spinning her hospital bracelet around her wrist. "I'm eating all my food, too. Mom! I get to stay in the same house as Captain America!" He exclaimed, turning excited brown eyes up to her. "Like, the Real Captain America!"

Wade and Peter had bonded right away when Wade saw Peter's Captain America hoodie, both boys being Cap fans. Tony thought he might show Wade his collection one day; Peter had already told him about it.

Tony pulled up Wade's backpack and pulled out a Starkpad, placing it on the bed tray. "I brought something so you don't get horribly bored watching TV all day," Tony said.

"That thing is really cool, Mom," Wade said excitedly. "Mr Stark makes them himself, and they're so much cooler than an iPad!" Tony grinned at the statement. Hell yeah his stuff was better than Apple. "He's letting me use one while I'm staying with him and Peter. And Peter's grandparents are there, too, and his Granpa is super fun!"

"Sounds like you're having lots of fun," Julie said with a laugh.

"All the Avengers are there!" He whisper shouted. "The ones that we saw in the newspaper! It's so awesome!"

"I can't show him the suit yet, it's still pretty beat up," Tony interjected. Tony actually planned on sealing the Mark VII, he still wasn't able to actually look at it without flashbacks buzzing at the corners of his eyes. "He and Peter are having a ton of fun though, and they haven't even destroyed anything yet."

"That was last year, and it was only one time!" Wade declared, crossing his arms over his chest, and Tony started to laugh. "We didn't know it was a cherry bomb." Both Julie and Tony snorted.

They talked for a little bit, Wade telling his mom about everything that he and Peter had done together, and he leaned against her side, still playing with her hospital bracelet. Tony had thought that the boy would probably miss his mom, so he had packed some of Wade's stuff in the backpack. "Hey, Wade, do you wanna spend the night here, with your mom? Steve, Peter, and I will pick you up in the morning?"

Wade looked over at him, then up at his mom. "Is that allowed?"

"Yeah," Tony nodded. "It's all cleared with the nurses, and I'm sure you'll behave here just like you do at my place." Wade snuggled into Julie's side, and she kissed the top of his head.

"Thank you, Tony," she said with a smile, arms around her son. Tony nodded, giving her a little smile back. In that moment, Tony knew why he had gone so far to help out a woman he barely knew. He watched Wade and Julie, and he saw Peter and Mary.

"So, it's completely getting late, and I will let you two have fun," Tony said, grabbing his hat and getting up. "We'll be back in the morning." He gave them a wave and left the room, closing the door once again, and making his way to the elevators. Tony waited impatiently for the numbers to light up, tapping his foot a little. He just wanted to get back to Peter.

At the apartment building he could hear the TV on in Mary and Peter's apartment, and decided to knock on that door first. After a second Steve opened the door for him. "Hey, hope you don't mind, but we're gonna spend the night here." Tony said as he walked inside. The TV was on, but Peter wasn't sitting on the couch. He saw the bedroom light on in the boys' room and figured that he was still packing some stuff. "Wade wanted to spend the night with his mom, and I said we would pick him up in the morning."

"Yeah, that's no problem," Steve said, closing and locking the door. He went to his bag and pulled out some tupper-ware containers and Tony raised an eyebrow. "Bruce sent us off with some food, because he figured that we'd miss dinner."

"How does he always think of everything?" Tony walked over, grabbing a couple containers from Steve and taking them into the kitchen. "Seriously, just about everything." Steve followed him into the kitchen, grabbing some plates from the cupboards and Tony opened the tops from the containers. "Mmmm, curry," Tony said, taking a smell.

"He said it's his specialty," Steve said, setting the plates down on the counter.

"He lived in India for several years," Tony said off-handedly.

"Sounds like fun," Steve said, checking the fridge to see what was to drink for Peter. He knew that he and Tony would just drink water. "The traveling I mean. I don't count the traveling I did in the war as recreational."

"Too busy taking down Nazi's to really enjoy the sights?" Tony asked, leaning past Steve to grab Peter's favorite juice.

"Didn't help that most of the tourist sights had been hit by bombs or gun-fire," Steve added. "I was pretty noticeable in my uniform back then anyway."

"And the uniform you wore a few days ago wasn't?" Tony smirked at him. "Cause if not, then I'm thinking I need to drop the red from my suit. Did you hear that J? We should have gone with that all gold design you showed me all those years ago."

"I'll try my best to resist saying, 'I told you so', Sir," Jarvis said from Tony's phone in his pocket.

Steve snorted, smiling though. "Please don't make the next suit all gold," Steve begged him.

"Now I'm tempted," Tony sing-songed. Steve spooned some rice onto the three plates, and Tony followed up with the chicken curry. Peter was coming out of his room as Steve put the first plate in the microwave, and Tony hugged the little boy, kissing the top of his head.

"We're gonna spend the night here," Tony told Peter before he could ask where his best friend was. "Wade is spending the night with his mom tonight, and then we'll pick him up in the morning."

"Okay," Peter nodded. "How much longer does Wade get to stay with us?" He asked, setting his bag by Steve's in the living room.

"Probably two more days at least," Tony said, taking the warm plate from Steve and handing off the next, setting the plate down on the dining table. "We can't keep him forever." He turned and tickled Peter's sides, making the little boy giggle and wiggle.

"They should live with us!" Peter proclaimed and Tony raised an eyebrow. "That way, when Wade's mom gets sick, we can help take care of her." Tony caught Steve glancing back at him from the kitchen. "There are more bedrooms at your house, and Mama likes talking to Wade's Mom, too. They do it all the time."

"What, do you just want everyone to live with us now?" Tony teased. "Next you're gonna say that Grandma and Granpa should live with us-"

"Yes!" Peter jumped up and down, making Tony's eyes widen a little, not ready for that reaction. "They live so far awaaaaay."

"You're the one who opened your mouth," Steve whispered when he walked by with the other two plates of food. "You brought this on yourself."

"I liked you better when you were frozen," Tony muttered. "You were silent, and not so sassy, then."

"I was sassy in the ice, and you know it," Steve shot back with a grin. Tony made a grumbling noise under his breath, because he was probably right.

"Well, all that is something that the adults will have to decide on their own," Tony said to his excited son. "Wade's mom still has a job around here, and Grandma and Granpa have responsibilities in California. So don't be too upset if they say they can't do it, alright?" Peter nodded, giving him his best grown-up look.

Tony watched him for a second, and then Peter went out to the kitchen to Help Steve with the rest of dinner. He let out a near silent sigh, wanting to keep Peter at this age, not wanting him to grow up, to keep him small, and wrap him up in his arms and hide him from the world. He watched him with Steve and felt a little tug in his chest. They worked so well together, and Steve was smiling, clearly enjoying having Peter around, and helping. Steve just looked, right, like helping with Peter was where he belonged.

Tony shook his head and pulled out the chair with Peter's booster seat. He was smaller than other six-year olds, just like Tony had been, but he was almost done with the booster seat. Peter climbed up into the chair and Tony pushed it back in, taking a seat next to him, Steve sitting across from them. Tony bit back the little smile he felt twitching at his lips, and instead took a big bite of his food. He should not feel this okay with such a domestic scene. It was just the stress of the past week, and the fact that he hadn't really slept. That was it.


	15. May 2011 VI

**A/N: Slight Anxiety/nightmare trigger near the end.**

 _Chapters 14, 15, and 16 posted all at once, don't miss a chapter! :)_

 **Unbeta'd, and Marvel owns more of this than I do.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**

* * *

Steve showed Tony the text from his phone at a stop light, the boys in the back of the car talking excitedly about possibly living together. Tony knew that Peter would immediately ask Wade's mom to move in with them at the hospital. They had woken Phil up, and he was responding well. By the time they'd get back he would be fully awake, and ready for visitors. Tony smiled and nodded. "'Bout time."

When they parked, Steve grabbed the bags, making a motion with his head to take the boys up to see Phil. Peter and Wade ran up the stairs, Peter's intent to probably find his grandparents now to ask them to live with them as well. Even after sleeping, Peter hadn't let go of the idea. Tony couldn't say that he was against it, he did have the room still, but if this was something that was going to happen, he really needed to get the Tower back up and renovated. They would start to get crowded, even in the mansion, with at least a dozen people living there full time. If everyone said yes, that was. Something to focus on later.

"Petey, get over here, kid," Tony said, trying to turn Peter down the hall towards the bedrooms. "Help me check on something real quick."

"I wanna tell Granma and Granpa we're back!" Peter said, but he stopped in his tracks, Wade right behind him.

"Give me two minutes, then you can shout it from the balcony." Peter giggled a little and the two boys ran back over to Tony. "Except, don't go shouting form the balcony, at least not without me there, or permission."

"Because of all the people around the house?" Peter asked as they walked down the hall. Natasha walked down the hall, giving Tony a small smile as she passed. Tony took that as a good sign since he was pretty sure that she had come from Phil's room. "Who are all those people?"

"A lot of them had cameras," Wade piped up. "And I thought I saw some with microphones, like those people form the news!"

Tony winced a little. There weren't as many reporters and paparazzi around the house when they did a drive by, before ducking into the underground parking, but they were still circling the house. "Yeah, those people will be going away soon. I hope. But if they manage to get near you at the house, then don't talk to them."

"Are they bad people?" Peter looked up at him.

Tony hummed. "No, they just don't always do things the right way, and so they make people upset. Like me. And other people. This will make more sense when you're older." Tony stopped by the bedroom door, opening it slowly. "Okay, I need your expert opinion on this one Petey." As the door opened, Tony peeked around, just to see what was going on in the room, and saw that Phil was already sitting up in the bed, awake.

Peter let out a gasp, then ran inside the room, pulling himself up on the end of the bed. "Phil!" He could see that the man was still injured, so he was careful, but insistent on crawling up the bed. The older man wrapped his arms around the boy, smiling.

"There you are." He chuckled when Wade crawled up on the bed, too. "Mr Wilson as well."

"Hi, Phil," Wade said, smiling at him.

Peter peered at Phil, not moving away from the arms that were around him though, eyes big. "Are you feeling better? I saw you get hurt and-"

Phil ran a hand through Peter's hair, Tony distantly thinking, again, that Peter needed a trim, and the boy stopped before he could start rambling. Just like a Stark.

"I'm doing better," he confirmed for Peter. "They say I have to stay in bed for today, but I feel even better now seeing both you and Wade." Tony was always amazed at how Coulson could use his professional sounding voice with the kids, and still make them smile. Tony himself had never used the higher-pitched "baby voice" with Peter, or Wade for that matter after meeting him, but he also never used his business voice. Granted, his business voice was usually used for the Board of Director, or potential clients, and he just didn't like most of them in the first place. He liked kids. Especially his kid.

"Alright, I'll make you a deal, Petey-boy," Tony said, and all three occupants on the bed looked at him. "I'll let you and Wade stay here to catch up with Agent, and I'll put away your stuff, but you both have to help put dishes in the dishwater for dinner, okay?"

"Okay!" Both boys grinned, making themselves comfortable on the big bed. Tony nodded to Coulson and left the room, closing the door most of the way, hearing the excited voices of Peter and Wade talking immediately.

Tony found Steve walking towards Peter's room, with both his and Wade's bags, and moved to open the door for him. "I could have gotten those," Tony told him.

"It's not a problem, I had already grabbed my bags, and thought I would finish cleaning out the car," Steve said, putting Wade's bag on a chair, and Peter's on the bed. After picking Wade up from the hospital, his Mom had given them a key to their apartment and they picked up some extra clothes and stuff for him as well.

"Well, thanks." Tony opened Peter's bag, stealing glances every so often at Steve. The man looked tired, and he knew it was because he couldn't have had more than four hours sleep. Tony himself had been awake all night as well, so he knew exactly when Steve woke up. "Told the boys that they had to help with dishes tonight if I put their clothes away, so that's one less chore for me. But, I think that Peter's going to ask Agent to live with us, as well."

Steve hummed a little, a little smirk. "He probably will. Good thing you've already got Phil in his own room."

"Why are you encouraging this," Tony said, shooting a meaningless glare at the Captain. "I don't have room in my house for half of New York!"

"You don't need that much room," Steve said with a chuckle. "Just a quarter of New York." Steve laughed when Tony threw a pair of Peter's socks at him, easily catching them though. "I imagine there will be more room when we finish the Tower, too."

Tony had stopped for a bout a millisecond when he heard Steve say 'we', but then remembered that he had agreed to help with the rebuild. "The way Peter's going, I might have to redesign the entire thing."

"What was supposed to go into the Tower?" Steve asked as he started to hand some of Peter's clothes to Tony.

"Well, there was the destroyed Penthouse," Tony said, adding a dramatic sniffle for effect. "I was gonna live on that floor, and below that I had a guest floor for Mary and her parents." Steve raised an eyebrow at him. "Just because Rachel doesn't like me, doesn't mean I can't be nice." And there was that warm Captain America smile. "The first thirty floors were going to be offices for SI, with another ten floors for R&D-"

"You need ten floors for that?" Steve asked, with genuine curiosity.

"Guiding the future, Cap, that's what SI does." Tony neatly put Peter's clothes together, switching drawers now. "Then I had my own workshop, then a couple of floors for guests, and the like. Fifteen other floors would be available for rent for other business. Prime location space for just about anything, and with a spectacular energy incentive."

"And now? You're going to redesign it?" Steve asked and Tony just nodded.

"When I've figured out what I'm going to do, I'll show it to you," Tony said, finishing with Peter's clothes. He opened an empty drawer to put Wade's stuff in. "Make it easier when we get to head over there. I think it was mostly the top floors that were damaged anyway. Little bit of superficial damage on the ground floors."

"One good thing about your Tower being chosen as Alien HQ." Steve smirked as Tony shot him an unamused look.

"Captain Sassypants."

"I thought I was Captain McCheater."

"You are Captain Whatever-I-Want-To-Call-You!"

"Now that just seems like a mouthful," Steve shook his head a little and Tony may have actually growled.

"You should not be this on top of your game with only a few hours of sleep," Tony grumbled and finished putting away Wade's clothes. "Seriously. It must be the serum that gives you this second wind." When Steve had woken up from his spot on the couch, and had seen Tony sitting in the over-sized chair in Mary's living room, working, he was halfway through saying 'I think we should talk about what happened last night.' Then he noticed that Peter was also out in the living room with them, curled up asleep in Tony's lap. Tony just gave a little shake of his head, running a hand through Peter's hair gently. Now Tony just had to keep him off the topic, because an awkward conversation with Captain America about a kiss was not on his list of things to do. At all.

"I should go tell Bruce that we're back." He closed the dresser drawer and turned for the door. "I should probably also check in with Potts, see what the media shit-storm looks like today."

"Unless something happened in the past hour-" Steve started, and when Jarvis interrupted him Tony threw Steve an honest glare this time.

"Sir, Mrs Fitzpatrick is headed for the front door. She appears to be angry." Tony frowned at Jarvis's words and quickly left, with Steve right behind him.

"What has her worked up this time?" Tony asked quickly, rounding the corner from the hallway and seeing Rachel reach for the front door. "Rachel! Hey!" She ignored him, a determined look of anger on her face, and yanked the front door open. Tony sprinted forward, trying to catch her before she got too far out, and the press started to get too interested.

Tony stopped suddenly when he saw who was coming up the walk-way, from the front gate no less, and who Rachel was moving to intercept. George Hayes. This had the potential to get really bad, really fast. He had to diffuse the situation. Tony looked at Steve, who had almost bumped into him when he had stopped, and pointed at Rachel.

"Get her back inside the house-" Tony winced when he heard Rachel started to yell at George, "-quietly."

"What do you think you're doing here?!" Rachel got closer to George, who was looking a little shocked at this strange woman who came out to yell at him, but didn't stop his stride. "Have you not cause enough trouble?"

Tony sprinted forward, past Rachel, trusting Steve to get Rachel. He was right when he heard Rachel huff and protest, more quietly, to Steve. Tony stopped in the middle of the walkway, not letting George move any further. "She has a point. What are you doing here?"

"I can't come to see the hero of the hour?" George gave him an obviously fake smile, well aware that the paparazzi could see them. Tony knew the smile well, he had perfected it at age eight. "We used to have something."

"Yeah, a very short something, and now it's over." Tony's words were quiet and pitched low, but he kept his own practiced smile on his face. "I don't know what your game is here-"

"He's just a troublemaker! Haven't you caused my family enough-" Rachel shouted, and Tony glanced over his shoulder. Steve was trying very hard not to just pick her up and throw her over his shoulder, not with so many cameras watching. Tony didn't care at this point.

George raised an interested eyebrow at Tony. "Lowering your standards, Stark?" Tony growled slapped a hand on George's back, fingers splayed to look friendly, but fingers digging in a little.

"Come with me, and shut your mouth," Tony muttered. Steve eyed Tony but got Rachel inside. "I have half a mind to let her at you once inside. That's worse than anything I could ever do to you. You're not even supposed to be here, I know for a fact that you got the restraining order."

"That was impressive how you got that approved so fast after a disaster," George commented. Tony pushed him inside the door first before shutting it.

"Steven Rogers, you let me go this instant," Rachel was saying to Steve, and Tony almost felt bad.

"I'm afraid I can't do that ma'am," he said in his nicest voice, which could very possibly make most other villains want to apologize. "I don't think Tony would appreciate bloodshed on the floors."

"I might make an exception," Tony muttered, and Rachel looked a little smugly at Steve. He turned back towards George, who now looked pleased with himself. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the police, or get the other Avengers in here. They are all here, you know."

"I'll be nice and give you two reason." George held up one finger. "The police would take too long to get here-"

"Not like I couldn't restrain you until they got here."

"-and you wouldn't want your son to see anymore violence." As George lifted a second finger, Tony felt like he had just been slapped with it. George grinned, but it wasn't a pleasant one, it was a shark that had gotten its prey. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some folded up papers, handing them to Tony.

Tony grit his jaw and pulled the papers roughly from his hand, opening them. The paper was thick, and Tony was soon able to see that they were photographs. Rage boiled in his blood when he saw that they were of Peter. There were a couple of Tony out with Peter at the zoo from last month, one him holding Peter while he walked away from Mary's door, before he put his hat back on. And there was a picture that Tony knew he had only hung up in his house; Jarvis had caught Tony and Peter in a moment down in the workshop, Dum-E holding onto the fire extinguisher, Butterfingers trying to make a smoothie, and U trying to hand Peter a screwdriver. The boy was grinning at the bots, laughing as Tony put his hands up to stop Dum-E from using the bright red canister, again.

"You went through me personal things?" Tony shouted at him. "You followed us around? I should call the police on this alone!" Tony held up the personal picture. "This was in my workshop! A place I know you've never been, and were never allowed to go to!" Despite the rage that billowed out in waves, the blonde in front of him just kept smiling.

"But you won't call anyone. I know this, and you know this. Those aren't the only copies I have of those," George said motioning towards the pictures. "One of those finds its way into one of the hands outside, and it doesn't matter what I do, the whole world knows about your son."

Tony's feet propelled him forward in a lunge, his arm winding back as his hand closed into a fist, but was suddenly stopped, a strong arm wrapping around Tony's waist. "Don't do it," Steve said quietly in his ear. "There are better ways to take care of this."

"I don't care," Tony growled, not taking his eyes off of George. He had a startled look when he thought that Tony was going to charge him, but looked smug again when Steve stopped him. "I want to hit something, and there's something in front of me."

"Tony," Steve looked at Tony. "If you-" They both turned, startled when there was a hard smack, and a startled shout. Rachel was huffing, shaking out her hand, and George was holding his cheek. "Mrs Fitzpatrick!"

"Go Rachel!" Tony cheered, ignoring Steve's admonishing look.

"That's assault!" George cried out. "I could bring you up on-" He stopped when Steve stepped up close to him.

"You won't do that," Steve told him. "You're not going to anything, because what you're doing is illegal on so many levels, and just wrong."

"That's not how the world works anymore, Captain," George said to him, taking a step back. "You have to do whatever it takes to get ahead in this world."

"What do you want?" Tony growled out. Rachel had moved to stand next to Tony, glare pinned on George.

"I'll respect the restraining order, and keep the pictures private," the man said. "For a nice seven figure sum."

Steve frowned. "That's extortion and blackmail!"

"It's just extortion, thank you very much," George said, like he was actually offended. "I don't do blackmail."

"Because you can't do violence!" Rachel shouted at him. "Everyone in this house could kick your ass."

"I think you just leave," Steve said to him.

"Not until I get what I came here for," George pressed.

Tony pressed past Steve, and this time he wasn't stopped. Tony grabbed his collar, pushing him back up against the door. "You're not getting a cent out of me. You think that you're the first person to try this with me? I will bury you in so much legal-ese and lawsuits that it'll make your head spin. I know your kind, and the demands will never stop coming."

"I'll tell the press about this," George said. He was no longer smiling, but he wasn't going to stop apparently. "I'll tell them how Iron Man and Captain America assaulted me."

"And I'll give them a recording of what happened here," Tony shot back. "You had your fifteen minutes of fame, and it backfired."

"I bet you're as disappointing in bed as you are in pers-" He gasped all the air was suddenly pushed from his lungs when Steve moved forward, punching George in the gut. Tony turned his head, looking shocked.

"The only disappointing thing in here is the scum in front of me," Steve growled out. "I would get out of here if you know what's good you, and it would be wise if those loose lips suddenly figured out how to stay closed." Steve grabbed George's collar this time, pulling him back to open the door, and shoved him outside. Steve slammed the door shut, locking it, letting out a breath. He turned around to see both Tony and Rachel looking at him, the former with a look of shock, and the latter with a pleased smirk.

"I may have made things worse," Steve said after a moment. "He's probably still going to tell the press. I'm sorry Tony."

Tony swallowed, looking at Steve. "Then I guess I need to say something first." Both Rachel and Steve looked at him with big eyes as he moved down the hall towards his own office. They both followed after him. Tony was already pulling out his phone, typing out something as they walked inside of his office. "Jarvis, get Pep on the phone, tell her it's a Code Cheeseburger." Steve and Rachel frowned at each other at the code name.

Barely a second later Pepper's voice was coming out through the office. "Tony, you can't be serious."

"Couldn't be more serious," Tony answered, dropping into the leather chair behind his desk and pulling open some drawers.

"You want to hold a press conference now? Of all times?"

"I'm on a time constraint, actually," Tony admitted. "Mr Hayes has decided to try extortion, and now it'll become blackmail, and he's going to reveal Peter." There was a gasp from Pepper. "Pull out the prepared papers, call the conference."

"Where do you want it held?" They could hear Pepper typing, and papers shuffling. Tony glanced up at Steve and Rachel for a second, taking a second to think.

"At the closest Manhattan Community Center," Tony said. "I'm going to remind them all that this isn't about me, or the Avengers, or any of that. This is still about rebuilding, and making sure that everyone is safe, and has a home again."

"I have a feeling I know what's going to happen." They could hear the smirk in Pepper's voice. "I'll meet you over there in half an hour."

"Make it forty-five," Tony said before ending the call.

"Tony, are you sure about this?" Steve asked him, stepping up to the desk.

"Not at all," Tony said, still looking through one of the drawers. He huffed and closed it before standing up, heading for the door. Rachel put a hand on his arm and Tony turned to face her, expecting her to tell him how selfish he was, how he should be-

"We'll watch Peter for you." The opposite of what he had been expecting. "You go and shame all of them, teach them another lesson in the humanity that they don't have."

Tony's mouth opened a little. "Uh, thanks, Rachel. And thanks, for back there, in the foyer." She gave him a rare smile and Tony hurried from the room. He didn't actually know how to handle the support from her, and he had other things to worry about at the moment anyway.

He stepped into Mary's room, seeing William sitting there, reading the morning paper. He nodded to Tony, folded up the paper, and got up, stepping out. Tony idly wondered if Jarvis had warned him, or maybe there was some kind of parent things going on there. Stepping up to the bed, Tony sat on the edge of the bed, glancing at Mary, looking peaceful.

"I know we always said that when this moment came, we'd figure it out together, and that hopefully it would be because Peter was graduating High School or College, and that it would be because I couldn't hold myself back from spoiling him with presents." Tony let out a little sigh. "I messed up, as per usual. But I'm working on, kind of fixing it. This is gonna suck, and it's gonna be hard, and I'm going to be apologizing to Peter for years to come..." He trailed off. "There is no but to that. The upside is hard to find in this one." Tony reached up to push a piece of hair off of forehead.

"Found Phil for you," he said quietly. "I'm sure he'll be in tomorrow, he's with Peter and Wade right now. Don't tell him I called him Phil, though. It's always Agent, no matter what." Tony took a deep breath. "This isn't how I pictured this going at all, and please don't yell at me when you wake up and see what happened. I promise that I'll have beaten myself about it more than enough already." He turned away, facing the door but staying on the bed. "You know, I remembered you when you came into my office all those years ago. After we slept together, of course." He let out a humorless chuckle. "I remember thinking that the sex had to be good with someone who looked like me, because I was just that good. And I think that's also the reason that we don't work together as a couple, because I would be just too much, and you would never back down, and it would just get too ugly, too fast."

"Sir," Jarvis said quietly, almost gently, from the ceiling. Tony glanced at his watch and nodded. He pat Mary's hand gently.

"I've got to get dressed, enter the circus again." Standing up from the bed, Tony looked at her, his face open, honest and vulnerable for just a second. Then he raised his mask, the practiced easy smile on his lips. "Wish me luck, Mare." He left the room, nodding to William who was leaning against the opposite wall.

"We'll be watching," the older man told him with a smile. Tony nodded and went next door to his room to change.

Steve had looked through all the clothes he had brought, kicking himself that he didn't bring anything that he thought would be nice enough for a press conference. Not that that was anything he ever thought he have to prepare for, but he didn't want to go in jeans, or khakis, but he wasn't seeing much of another choice.

He finally decided one a non-plaid, blue button up, slipping a black sport jacket on over it, paired with some khakis. He would have rather worn his leather jacket, but he doubt that would look good. Steve stepped out of his room and saw Tony coming out of Phil's room, already changed, and Steve couldn't help but appreciate how much the man could clean up. He of course had seen him on TV and online in suits, but he had gotten used to the casual t-shirt and jeans Tony in person. Tony was wearing a white buttons down, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black waistcoat with red accents, and some kind of multicolored tie underneath, paired with black suit pants. His hair had been styled, and his beard was trimmed, and he looked impeccable, even not in the full suit.

Tony looked down the hall and saw Steve, raising an eyebrow as he walked towards him. "Don't you look fancy, Captain."

"Well, I understand you have to at conferences." Tony raised both eyebrows at Steve now, and Steve joined him walking down the hall.

"I do, you don't," Tony pointed out.

"I'm not letting you go alone," Steve replied.

Tony's brow furrowed a little. "I don't need a bodygua-"

"Not a bodyguard," Steve quickly amended. "I talked to Natasha, Clint, and Bruce, and we all decided that someone should go with you, to represent the Avengers."

"While the obviously see-through tactic of distracting the press is appreciated," Tony started, the two of them heading down to the garage, "I think that I'm a big boy. This isn't baby's first conference, for me." He glanced at Steve. "And no one knows that Captain America is actually Steve Rogers from the 1940's. Take it from experience, keep your privacy while you're still able too." Steve was able to note the tightness in Tony's voice at the words. He had to remind himself that Tony had been dealing with this nearly all his life, always in the public eye, always on display.

"Then I'll be there for moral support," Steve said, not giving up. Tony let out a sigh as they approached the black town-car. He caught Tony eyeing one of his sport cars for a second, before motioning to the black vehicle with one hand.

"Fine, get in. But I'm not saying anything to Pepper, that is your own beast to take on," Tony muttered as he slipped in behind the wheel of the car.

When they reached the side entrance to the Community Center, all the cameras setting up around the building, Tony and Steve saw Pepper waiting for them in the doorway. They both walked in, the door closing, and Pepper stood in front of Tony, smoothing down his tie of non-existent wrinkles.

"This is a truly horrendous tie for cameras, Tony," Pepper said a little fondly. Tony shot her a grin.

"Isn't it? Peter picked it out for me last Christmas." Pepper snorted softly and kissed Tony's cheek.

"It'll be hideously perfect." Pepper then turned her eyes to camera, letting her eyes travel down, then back up to his face, assessing his attire. "The only thing missing is his shield."

"He wanted me to turn back to grab it," Tony said with a smirk. "He thinks he's going on camera." Pepper and Tony both shared a laugh and Steve frowned a little. Tony watched Pepper walk over to Steve putting out her hand to shake.

"I'm Pepper Potts, and I've heard a lot about you," she introduced, not letting Steve get a word in. "And you'll be staying the background with me."

"I thought that if-" Steve started, gesturing towards the little podium that was set up.

"Tony is a professional at conferences," Pepper stopped him. "Trust me when I say that, he can handle anything. Well, unless he has another superhero alter ego to announce." Tony snorted, smirking a little. "You'll want to keep you anonymity, Captain." She clicked her tongue a little and both men fell in line behind her like a couple of trained pups.

Tony took a couple of silent breaths as they approached the podium, all the reporters and cameras having finished set-up. They were all standing, while all the occupants inside had chairs, benches, and cots to sit in. They seemed unaffected by the press conference about to happen, and eyed Tony, Steve, and Pepper as they walked through, curious.

Tony couldn't help but stop at what looked like a single father, sitting on a cot, with two little girls, asleep on his lap. The oldest couldn't be older than eight, and the youngest was a touch younger than his Peter. He crouched down a little in front of the little family. "Shoulda figured that all the cameras would be here for you," the man said quietly, but not entirely unkindly.

"Yeah," Tony gave a little shrug, looking at the father. "Not exactly what I wanted to be happening right now. How are your girls holding up?"

The man glanced down at the two girls, his arms wrapped around them both. "My youngest gets confused about why we can't go home, and I think my oldest is starting to catch on." He looked back up at Tony. "But, I'm luckier than others around here, I got my girls with me." Tony nodded a little.

"They treating you alright while they set up something for you?" Tony was sending donations this way, and he wanted to make sure that his money was being put to its fullest extent to help. "Food, clothing, blankets?"

"Yeah," the man nodded. "Not sure what kind of housing they'll be getting us though, so many places destroyed, not many left open." He wrinkled his nose a little. "Not really looking to move too far away, finding a new job is hard enough, but finding one that works around my girls is even harder."

Tony let out a little breath. Single father, confirmed. "What do you do?"

"Just moved onto days as a security guard," the man told him. "Don't expect I'll be going back there anytime soon though. The building was damaged in the attack, just like our apartment." Tony watched the man run a hand over the head of the younger girl as she turned in her sleep. "People will do anything for their kids, Mr Stark."

"Yeah," he said softly, tearing his eyes back up to the man. "Yeah, I'd do anything for my son." The man's eyes widened a little, and Tony smiled softly. "Got a six-year-old waiting for me at home. I'd really rather be back there with him, than here dealing with that," he said with a motion to the crowd outside. Tony stood up, reached inside his waistcoat and pulled out a card. "My private line is on the back of this one," he said as he leaned forward to slip the card in the pocket on the front of the man's shirt. "I'll be working on different projects all over the city, state even, and I always need good security. Give me a call, we'll get something worked out." The man just blinked, speechless, but managed a nod. Tony gave him a little smile and went back over to Pepper and Steve.

Pepper pulled out her Starkpad. "What position do I need to secure?" She asked simply. Steve turned a confused expression to her, then back over to Tony.

"Security guard. Flexible schedule, full benefits, has experience," Tony recited off as they started walking again. "Pay grade six, I think." He nodded a little.

Steve looked at Pepper when Tony rattled off words to her. "Non-executive employees fall under an eight step pay grade," Pepper told him quietly, inputting information into her tablet. "Eight is the lowest, and working all the way up to one." Steve blinked. Tony was going to set someone up starting at three steps up?

Tony was aware of Pepper stopping Steve from following him past a certain point, hidden from the cameras and reporters. Flashes started going off as soon as Tony got closer to the mic. Tony waited a couple of moments, looking out at them, putting names with faces, mentally putting together the pecking order for questions. His smile was up, his game was on, the counter had started.

"I did not come out with notecards this time, so I'm afraid we're all in for another ride." He smiled, the few laughs rippling through the crowd. "Anyway, it seems like there are a couple of things that I need to address, and I think the cards would only distract from the frantic yelling that you'll all do anyway. Am I right?" And on cue, they all started to yell his name, hands and pens in the air.

In Tony's mind, one of two things was going to happen. In the hour that it had taken for Tony to reach the podium, George could have easily dropped the pictures to his contacts, and they would ask about Peter right away, or the first question would be about the Avengers. Or he'd have to tell them all that that's what they were calling themselves. Tony was hoping for the secret third option of his sexuality.

"Kate," Tony said, pointing to one of the ladies in the front. She was from the same station that had interviewed George.

"Mr Stark, some pictures of you were released online less than an hour ago, claiming that you have a son-" the rest of her question was drown out by the uproar of the crowd again. Tony hated being right on the first guess. George had just straight released them to all of social media, not doubt with a little news station help.

"Ouch Kate," Tony put a hand to his chest. "Jumping from the gate on this one, aren't we? What happened to lobbing me a couple of easy ones?"

"This isn't a typical press conference," Kate shouted above the voices.

"Alright, I'm explaining this all in one, so everyone get your pens ready." Tony waited for the voices to die down enough. "I'm going to preface this with the fact that those pictures were obtained illegally, and all of them have probably been removed by now." Jarvis would have caught them, and started tracing them, taking down every hosting source along the way. "Yes, I have a son, and I love him very much. No, he is not here with me."

"Why not?" Someone shouted from the back.

"Because I don't trust you vultures, to be perfectly honest." He could feel Pepper's tiny frown on the back of his neck. "My son is young, not even in the double digits yet, and I'd like to keep him away from the cameras and reporters for as long as I can." Tony leaned his arms on the podium, putting his weight on them, appearing casual to everyone else. Tony knew that Peter would be watching this as well, everyone at the Manor would be. "You know what, from now on, I'm going to refer to him as Mini-Me, I like that," he nodded to himself. "Let me continue knocking out the obvious questions. No, I'm not married, nor am I dating. Yes, the mother is very much in the picture, and we jointly raise our son together. No, I will not be giving any names, or any other kind of personal information."

"Mr Stark!" The shouts started up again. "How old is he?" "Why can't we have his name?" "Can you release any official photos?" "Was it the mothers ideas to keep it secret?" "Does he have your last name?"

Tony put his hands up, the reporters going quiet a little, then he gestured to another woman towards the middle. "Mrs Tate, right?" She nodded. "Indulge me, do you have kids?"

She nodded, a little smile that Tony recognized as one that parents got when they thought about their kids. "I have two."

"A boy and a girl?" She nodded again. "Sounds lovely. If you don't mind, what are their names? Ages? Unless they're twins, then who's the oldest? What school do they go to? Oh, does your husband work, or are you the main bread winner? Does he get more time with the kids, so that they resent you for not spending enough time at home? Or are they both numb to the fact that both parents work, and they're left with a sitter, or day-care all day?"

The woman sputtered a bit, her face turning red, and the other reporters were dangerously close to turning on him. "Don't want to answer all those questions? That's alright, I respect your decision to not expose them to hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of people." Tony's gaze raked over the rest of the press. "That's what it sounds like to my ears." Tony stood up fully. "As I said, Mini-Me is young, and as his father, I will do what I have too to protect him. I humbly ask that everyone refrain from taking unauthorized, illegal, pictures of my Mini-Me, and heaven forbid you find her, his mother. Do not approach him, do not talk to him, like he were some other high profile target for your news days. I'm sure that the rest of you would not want anyone to do that to your kids, or grandkids, nieces, nephews, or even cousins. You'll know when you're allowed to capture his image, or his voice." Tony waited, waited for any other stupid questions to pop up that would go against what he had just said, and was pleasantly surprised when nothing else about his son came.

"You know, as popular as I am, and as much as we all love to talk about me, let's not forget something else." Tony motioned back to the Community Center building. "There are still people here, and all throughout Manhattan, that are still trying to rebuild. Businesses, homes, personal property, all lost by the tragic attack that occurred just a few days ago." Tony thought of the dad inside with his two girls, of the other parents and families inside. "Lest we forget so quickly, supplies, donations, and volunteers of all kind are still needed. There's going to be a lot of physical rebuilding as well as emotional, and all help is appreciated. We can't let friends, family, anyone, go without homes, without food or water, the basic necessities."

"Will you be donating your own time, as well?" Someone shouted above the rest.

"I will," Tony answered without hesitation. "While I am lucky enough to tend to my son, who was also in the middle of the danger, inside the stability of our own home, I have put into motion several things already. The site of the Stark Expo has already been shifted to hold many displaced citizens, while a search continues to find them reliable and safe shelter, or to return them to their own homes. And, I'll make the official announcement that the Stark Expo will be postponed until everyone person there has been safely housed."

"What can you tell us about the attack?" A male voice asked. "And what about those that fought with you?"

Tony took an invisible breath. He knew the question would be coming, told himself not to think about the actual event while up there. "I can tell you that the attackers were repelled and defeated. I was just one small piece to the team that took on the threat. There are many fine men and women of the police force, and the firefighters, and hospitals, that put their lives on the line to help. We would not have been able to accomplish what we did without them, and I thank them, and honor their fallen numbers."

"What about the other superheroes that were with you?" Of course they only wanted to hear about that.

"Want something catchy for the headlines? Call us the Avengers," Tony said.

"Is it true that Captain America was there?" A female this time. "Has someone else really taken up the mantle?"

"I can't comment on something that isn't already public knowledge," Tony told them, prompting raised voices. "All you need to know is that a group of us came together to defend New York, to defend the world, and we'll do it again, if and when the time comes. Now, I must ask, are there any other questions not related to my son, Iron Man, Captain America, or the Avengers?" Tony wanted them to talk about the rebuilding effort. That was too much to ask though.

"Mr Stark, are you gay?" Tony almost laughed at the question.

"Hey, thanks for the easy exit, Gary," Tony shot the man a smile. "I am an equal opportunity lover, and I'll request that no one else give my falsely titled former male lover any more airtime. I'll release my own statement on that in the future, and you all can run it for days on end! Promise, darlings, it'll be worth it in the end." He kissed his hand, blowing a kiss to the crowd before throwing up a peace sign, walking backwards back into the building, the doors closing.

 _(And Jarvis would show him the reaction form back home later, and he would smile proudly, and deny any hint of tears._

 _"That's my Daddy! He was talking about me and Mama, and saving the world. My Daddy is a superhero."_

 _He'd deny the swell of warmth of Rachel's response to his son. "He certainly is, darling.")_

Steve looked like he was barely being held back by Pepper's hand on his shoulder, and Tony shot them both a grin, hands in his pockets. "Breathe, Rogers, you're cheeks are looking a little red. This is why we kept you back, pup."

"That's normal?" Steve asked, motioning with his hand towards the door.

"That might have actually been a little contained," Tony said thoughtfully. "I let myself get a little more seriously than normal though, so that's probably par for the course."

"I think you did very well, Tony," Pepper said. "Usually you create at least two more scandals at impromptu press conferences." One of the Community Center workers came up to Pepper, whispering something in her ear, causing her a little frown. "Some of the major news stations want to bring their cameras in here," Pepper said looking at Tony. "There's a risk of exploiting those in here."

"But there's also the chance that it'll draw the kind of positive reception we're looking for," Steve countered. "It might draw in more help, more volunteers, and supplies."

Tony hummed a little, taking both opinions into consideration. They would want to see Tony speaking with the people here, that was for sure, and it would look bad either way, even if he had intended to stay for a little bit to talk to some more people. "Ask the others who are staying here," Tony replied finally. "It's their faces that are going to be on TV, and some of them may not be comfortable with it. If they say yes, than they can come in, in an hour." Pepper and Steve looked at him. "I want some time here with them, but I don't want it on camera. What we're doing here, it's not for the cameras, not for any extra publicity."

Steve smiled brightly at him, and Tony felt his insides melt a little at the sparkling of his blue eyes alone.

* * *

 **June 2011**

Three days after the press conference, Tony collapsed face first on his mattress. It was late, and Jarvis had locked him out of his workshop for the rest of the night. Steve had insisted on actually going out now, with the rest of the Avengers, sans Bruce, to help in the city. He said he was still going to help Tony with the Tower, but they would be able to help more with removing left over alien corpses, and rubble and debris. One good thing about all the extra work was that he could keep avoiding the talking thing with Steve. Once Tony got home he would immediately find Peter, and Wade most of the time, and spend time with him. When the boys were asleep, Tony would sneak downstairs to the workshop to put in some work into the Tower re-model.

Tony's bones felt tired, and he knew that Jarvis had been right to lock him out, but he didn't want to sleep. He shivered a little, letting out a breath into the comforter on the bed. It was comfortable, and he couldn't deny that just lying there was really helping his weary body.

"J," Tony mumbled. "Turn down the AC, little chilly."

"Sir, I'm afraid that I have not changed the temperature settings," Jarvis responded, causing Tony to lift his head a little. Jarvis sounded a little... sluggish? "It would appear, that... there is... Captain..." Jarvis stopped responding and Tony shot up from the bed. He let out a breath and saw it form a cloud in front of him. He ran out into the hallway and rubbed his arms against the chill that was there. Jarvis had been trying to say something about Steve as well.

He ran over to Steve's room, knocking in rapid succession before he just pushed the door open a second later. Steve was lying in the bed, but he looked, wrong. His body was too straight, too stiff, and as Tony moved closer he saw that his chest was moving too quickly with shallow breaths.

"It would seem that your Captain is having an interesting reaction to the cold." Tony jumped at the sudden voice that came from the back corner of the room. His hand shot out as if his gauntlet were on his hand, and froze when he saw Loki's green eyes staring at him. Green eyes that used to be blue a week ago.

"Loki, fuck, what the hell are you doing in here!" Tony shouted, subtly looking around for a weapon. "How did you get out of your cage?" Tony tried not to move when Loki stepped closer to both Tony and the bed. He did move closer to the bed when Loki looked to be getting closer to Steve.

"I was actually looking for your room," the dark haired man said, looking from Steve to Tony.

"Sorry, no more tortures devices to attach to my face," Tony growled out with a glare. "I'm sure that I can find your old friend tho-" His words were cut off with a gurgle and a gasp when Loki moved, a hand to Tony's throat, slamming him against the wall of the room.

"I do not come here to trade quips, Stark," Loki said darkly. Tony swore the room got colder, and he heard Steve let out a strange huff of breath. "I need you to speak to Thor of my small amount of innocence." Tony's eyes widened a little. "You have felt what was in my head, what influence was there. You have felt what it is like to have your body turn against your allies, to fight for something that you thought to be the only reason to fight, no matter what." Loki leaned his face closer to Tony's. "You have heard them, am I not right?"

"I don't have the same mental problems as you," Tony rasped out. He was still able to breathe as Loki held him, but it wasn't exactly easy. "No voices talking to me."

They commenced a staring contest that lasted for several minutes, until a sound of pain came from Steve on the bed. Tony pushed back on Loki's arms, and the taller man let him go, taking several steps back. Loki frowned then disappeared with a shimmer, and the temperature started to rise back to normally nearly immediately. Tony frowned, then hurried over to Steve, pushing his face as close to Steve's face as he dare, but not touching him yet. He had to slowly bring Steve back to at least semi-consciousness, out of the panic attack, then it would be safe enough to touch him.

"Steve," Tony called out, and he swore to re-program Jarvis so that Rhodey never found out that he had used the man's first name again. "Steve Rogers, come on." He watched Steve's hands twitching in response. "Come, Cap, you can do it. Whatever you're seeing, it's not real. You're at Stark Manor, it's June. I'm here, Tony, and Peter is in the other room with Wade. Mary is here with Phil, and Natasha and Clint are upstairs, and Bruce is just down the hall as well. Come on, open your eyes for me."

Tony felt his phone buzz as Jarvis came back online. "J, I need eyes on Loki immediately," Tony said softly.

"Mr Loki is still located downstairs, and has not moved from his cage," Jarvis responded immediately and Tony frowned. "Shall I wake Mr Odinson to go and check on his brother?"

"Yes," Tony said, nodding. "Do it right away, Jarvis." Tony turned eyes back to Steve to see his eyelids fluttering. "Hey, come on, open those eyes." Tony felt more comfortable moving to sit on the bed now. Steve's eyes opened, his pupils blown wide, and they stuttered around as he took in his surroundings, before settling on Tony. "There you are," Tony said, putting a gently hand on Steve's chest. His heart was hammering in his chest.

"Tony?" Steve said quietly, brokenly. Oh. It was a flashback.

"Yup, that's me," Tony said, nodding, letting Steve put his hand on top of Tony's still on his chest. "Careful about moving, you're probably going to be sore. Your whole body was pulled tighter than one of Clint's bow strings." Steve started to fidget a little, and Tony's put his other hand on Steve's back when he insisted on sitting up in bed. "Yeah, you're okay now, though," Tony assured him.

They sat in silence for a couple minutes, Steve not letting go of Tony's hand, Tony not moving from his spot on the bed. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Tony asked gently. He wasn't going to begrudge the good Captain if he didn't want to share. Tony wasn't exactly the most open guy with his nightmares, and he assumed it would be the same with Steve.

"I was under the ice," Steve said in a near whisper. Tony's lips parted a little in surprise.

Steve closed his eyes tightly, gave one last squeeze to Tony's hand before letting go, giving a little lean to get up. He had to shake it off. He was in the plane again, he was going down, and could see the water and the ice rushing up to meet him. He knew it had to be done, to save the world, but this time he hadn't lost consciousness. He gasped, freezing water filling his lungs, burning his eyes, the cold soaking straight to his bones. Steve let out a strangled whimper through clenched teeth, and his eyes shot open when two warm hands were pressed to his cheeks. Tony was in front of him, his amber eyes clear with worry, and patience.

"We need to warm you up," Tony said softly. He moved Steve back onto the bed, directing him to lay on his side instead of his back. Steve tracked him as he walked to the closet, pulling out some extra blankets that were in the back. He wanted to help Tony, knew it would only be right to help him, but his body didn't want to move. Tony pulled the blankets on the bed over Steve, then shook out another blanket, draping it on top, and then one more time.

Tony knew what Steve was feeling. He would dream about the cave if he got too hot. Jarvis would drop the temperature of his bedrooms to nearly freezing when that would happen, just for a few hours, until Tony could regulate. Tony knew what he had to do.

Pulling the blankets back just enough, Tony slipped into the bed behind Steve, and wrapped his arms around Steve's stomach. He felt the fine tremble in Steve's body, and started to rub his arms a little. "Shouldn't take more than an hour to get you all warmed up," Tony said quietly, gently. "Then you can wake up earlier than anyone alive needs to be up, and I'm going to task you with making breakfast." Steve felt himself smiling a little at Tony's easy back and forth banter, with himself mostly. "But don't fall into Peter's trap of asking for pancakes, because it's not Saturday, or someone's birthday, and if Mary or I aren't there he'll try to get those sweet little flatbreads out of whatever sucker is cooking for him. Rhodey found that one out the hard way, and he won't be falling for that again."

Tony knew that he wasn't the only one that suffered from nightmares, but it was almost surreal to watch Captain America go through one, to be affected too much. He still had to separate that Steve Rogers, this Captain America, and the Captain America from his childhood, were very much the same man, and yet human all the same. And because of that, Tony knew that he was playing a very dangerous game right now. Falling for Steve Rogers right now, it wasn't right, and he couldn't promise himself that it was happening for all the right reasons, and not just some delayed reaction of hero worship. What person didn't hope that some famous person secretly met them and instantly fell in love?

Tony rested his head on Steve's neck, using his own natural heat to press against the temperature sensitive skin there. And it would work out, right? He and Mary were best of friends, right on the same level as he and Rhodey, and they had a child together. Tony was positive that Steve was genuine with Peter, and that Peter liked Steve with honest child-like trust and innocence, not because he was Captain America.

 _Alright, new plan, Stark, Tony thought to himself. Get Rogers warmed up, back to sleep, and get the hell out of here!_

Well, it had been a decent idea of a plan, was his first thought when he woke up in the morning, still wrapped around a sleeping Steve Rogers.


	16. June 2011

**A/N: So sorry for the long waiting my darlings! I was sick with what felt like the plague/flu, (there were jokes with a friend about becoming a zombie, and whichever one of us recovered had to kill the other for the sake of humanity), there were hospital visits, and nursing home visits, and generally lots of sick people involvedl (sitting in a hospital room wearing one of those masks for hours on end gets annoying. How do people wear those out in public all the time without overheating their faces?) Also, I'm dealing with snow, because my state SUCKS with weather (seriously, my state never knows what season it is), so I'm currently dealing with sinuses, but I can work with that at least.**

 **But! Here's a chapter, and while writing it I came out with something that I hope is going to end up being a really awesome thing that carries on through the rest of this story, and into the rest of the series, something that will bond Steve and Tony through adorableness and awkwardness. It's going to be awesome, I hope. Research was put into it, fun research. Gift fic for the first person to figure out what it is? :D**

 **But seriously, sorry for the wait, enjoy the new chapter, and the next is already in progress! There might only be a couple more chapters in this story, we'll see how the characters react.**

 _Chapters 14, 15, and 16 posted all at once, don't miss a chapter! :)_

 **Unbeta'd, and Marvel owns more of this than I do. Disney owns them and the movie Tangled.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**

* * *

Tony slowly pulled one arm away from Steve, rolling gently onto his back. As Tony reached for his phone, still in his pocket, he thought that for once, the blonde wasn't up before the crack of-

5:42 AM

Nevermind. As if on cue, Steve straightened his legs, back arching as he started to wake up. The man had an internal clock that was impeccable. When Steve rolled towards his edge of the bed, Tony was able to pull his other arm back that had been under Steve's shoulders. He sat up, hoping to make it at least look like he hadn't been there all night-

"Tony?" No one had that right to sound that adorably sleepy under the age of ten. Tony turned to look at Steve. "Did you stay here all night?"

"All night is a relative thought," Tony said as he stretched his arms above his head. His hips felt a little funky, having fallen asleep with his jeans still on, and sleeping properly. "I mean, I came in a little after one in the morning, and it's almost six now. That's not even the recommended amount of sleep a normal adult should get-"

"Thank you, Tony," Steve said before Tony could continue in his rambling. "You didn't have to."

"Yeah, I know that." Tony shrugged a little. He pushed himself to his feet. "Wasn't like I could just leave you trapped in a nightmare though, that's some kind of cruel punishment." He turned to look at Steve who had gotten up as well, and Tony was treated to the sight that Captain America slept with no shirt no, and what had to be some joke pajama bottoms with pictures of what looked like genie bottles? Tony raised his eyebrow, looking at the pajamas, then back up to Steve's face. Steve glanced down to wee what Tony had been looking at them, then looked back up, his cheeks tinting red.

"Right, well, I've got to go check on our resident emo god downstairs." Steve frowned at Tony's words, and Tony realized that Steve didn't know what had happened last night. "I'll fill you in when I'm done, and you can go work out, take a run, make a crap load of breakfast food, whatever it is that super soldiers do." Tony gave a two fingered salute and headed for the door quickly.

Tony made a pit stop down in his workshop, grabbing one his prototype gauntlets, before heading towards the back of the garage, where Loki supposedly was still being held. He walked in to see Thor standing vigil against the wall, Loki sitting on the cot, legs folded underneath him.

"Anthony," Thor said, reaching forward to grasp his arm in greeting. "Your mechanical servant has filled me in on what happened, but there is no way that Loki could have left his confines down here." Tony looked over at Loki, who was watching them with blank green eyes. Except they weren't exactly blank, there was a carefully concealed spark of amusement. He wanted something.

"Has he said anything?" Tony asked. They had removed the mouth guard after the first day, (Tony admits that it was his own perverse pleasure after Loki had tricked him), but he hadn't said anything since then.

"I'm afraid not."

"Because I was simply waiting for the correct person to speak with," Loki said drolly, rolling his eyes. The two man turned to stare at him. "I am no fool, I know that we would return to Asgard soon, and things will not work out favorably for me." Tony snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "I have decided to take this time to work on my defense."

"Defense?" Tony raised his eyebrows in shock. "I don't know what you did before you came here, unleashing death and destruction, but-"

"I have told you what needs to be done," Loki cut him off. Thor looked between Loki and Tony once.

"Your clever words will not-"

"Your fellow warrior had the unique experience of becoming acquainted with the entity that fueled the invasion on this realm." Loki's voice was calm, and it was getting on Tony's nerves.

"Anthony?" Thor asked and Tony turned his head to look at him. "Is this true?"

"Hey, I don't know anything about what your crazy brother went through before getting here," Tony said, putting his hands up, and he swore he saw Loki smirk a little. "I'm still technically trying to get used to the fact that other worlds can be accessed and-"

"I would offer up my memories to compare with what he had experienced during the invasion," Loki said suddenly, looking at Thor. They both had stoic, very seriously, expressions, and Tony had to wonder what they hell went on up in Asgard. Fucking Magic.

"If you are true in your convictions, then we must call down one of the Arbiters." Tony raised both eyebrows again, directed at Thor as he spoke. Looking back over at Loki he was looking very pleased with himself and Tony bristled.

"Okay, but we're ignoring the fact that he was Loose in the Mansion last night," Tony brought up. "You'll forgive me if I don't trust a Single syllable that comes from his mouth. He kidnapped my son, tried to mind control me, and shoved a torture device on my mouth because he can't take a joke! And then I found him playing with the temperature in Rogers' room last night, because he got the wrong room looking for Me! How do we know he isn't trying to kill us off, one by one, or just me?"

"If you were to die, then I would be as good as dead," Loki explained, like it should have been obvious. "You hold the proof of any innocence that I have in my actions."

"I do not believe for a second that you've learned all your lessons, and you're suddenly a good little boy," Tony said with a glare directed at the dark haired man. "And what exactly is an Arbiter?"

"It is a Judge of sorts," Thor started to explain. "One that can come and see the truth from anyone. I do believe that there are a couple that are still here on Midgard."

"Then my wait will not be long," Loki said, seeming to actually relax a little and Tony frowned.

"I don't know if I quite agree to bringing someone here," Tony said, looking between the two Asgardians. "I know nothing about this, and it's feeling a little invasive if it has to do with my memories."

"There is another way that I know of," Loki spoke up. "Tis a way that you know to work even on me for the truth," he said looking at Thor.

"I do not trust you with idle hands as of yet, brother," Thor rumbled out.

"Then it is a good thing that it is even something that you can do," Loki shot back.

Tony put his hands up, taking a couple steps back. "You know what, I'm out. This is something I no longer want a part of. Today is a long awaited day off, and I plan on spending lots of time with my son" He turned, heading for the exit. "I'm no longer involved in whatever you two will talk about, but Loki," he turned his head to look at the man in question, "you try any shit again, and you won't have to worry being innocent or not."

Upstairs Tony could smell the amazing scent of cooking food, and not pancakes. Peter wasn't up yet if Steve hadn't been conned into cooking pancakes. He detoured back to his room, opting to change his clothes and take a quick shower, before braving the kitchen and Steve Rogers.

* * *

Tony had managed to avoid actually having a conversation with Steve until dinner time. He wasn't looking forward to telling him that Loki was the reason that he had had a nightmare, and yet that Loki hadn't broken free and Thor had offered little to no explanation about how it had happened. Seems he couldn't put it off any longer as Steve cornered him in the hallway past the kitchen.

"Hey there, Cap," Tony said, the picture of cool, calm, and collected. "Giving up your kitchen duty for tonight?"

"Rachel and William are cooking," Steve told him, taking one step to the side when Tony tried to sidle past him. "Tony. Why did you have to go see Loki this morning?" And now Steve was giving him the eyes, the eyes that said he really hoped that he didn't have another mind-controlled teammate.

Tony wrinkled his nose a little. "Because I thought he was stirring up shit last night, so I went to talk to Thor and make sure." Steve raised an expectant eyebrow at him. "Well, it's hard to get an actual answer out of him, but Loki tried to con me into doing something that might get him a lesser sentence when he has to go back with Thor."

"What do you mean?" Steve took a step forward, brows crinkling together a little. Tony could have worded that better.

"Something about proving his innocence in something or other," Tony shrugged, trying to step away again. "Says apparently that I can help set some stuff straight, but I know this is not his first infraction as an offender." Tony looked at Steve and saw something, like determination, in his look. "Rogers? What's that look in your eye? You're not getting curious are you? You're not letting the words of a crazy man actually try to make sense, are you?"

"Tony, he did something to you back at the battle," Steve started and Tony narrowed his eyes a little. Traitor! "You didn't act like the others, though."

"Whoa! You're not considering this insanity, right? Were you secretly talking to Thor today?" Tony took a step backwards this time. "You can't agree with letting someone go through memories, or whatever they hell they were suggesting."

"You make it sound like someone would be rifling through your mind." Both men turned, jumping back, at the voice that sounded behind Tony. There was Loki, leaning against the wall, looking at his nails. "We both know that someone else has already done that."

"Loki!" Steve's expression turned to a glare.

"I told you!" Tony exclaimed, throwing his arms up. "Jarvis!"

"Sir?" Jarvis asked through the internal mics.

"Where the hell is Thor? He needs to wrangle his crazy little brother." Loki sneered a little, but smirked a little at Jarvis's response.

"Mr Odinson is still downstairs with Mr Loki. They have not moved all day."

Steve and Tony looked at each other, then back to Loki, and the tricky bastard was gone. They both turned on their heels and ran for the garage. Sure enough, Thor was still downstairs with Loki, the latter looking like he hadn't moved since this morning.

"Seems your friends have arrived," Loki said to Thor when they both noticed Tony and Steve running in, looking a little frantic. "Perhaps Stark has changed his mind willingly."

"Thor," Steve said as he walked over to the blonde Asgardian. "We just saw Loki upstairs."

"Aye, it seems that my brother is still able to control a minor part of his illusions," Thor admitted with a nod. "I can report that they are unable to do anything other than possibly annoy."

"Still a no, there, Rudolph," Tony said, pointing at Loki. Loki raised an eyebrow at him. "And you know you did more last night."

"I simply wanted to deliver a message last night," Loki said simply. He glanced past Tony, at Steve and Thor talking, then back to Tony. "But, I may have an offer to make you reconsider."

"I don't think so," Tony shook his head, taking a step back, turning on his heel.

"I can wake your woman up." Tony froze. He vaguely noticed Steve turned his head to look at him. "I know she sleeps, and I can tell you when she would wake."

Tony turned, stalking over to the boundaries he made. It wouldn't hurt him if he crossed over, only Loki, but they had all agreed to stay out of arms reach of the madman. "No, you said you could wake her. Which is it?"

"I can do both," Loki replied. "The reward depends on the price that is paid."

"You dig through my head, you bet your ass you're waking her up!" Tony felt his nails dig into his palms a little. Could he trust him to actually wake up Mary though? It could just be another of Loki's tricks, Tony wouldn't take the small chance of putting Peter at risk by letting Loki perform magic in the mansion.

"We have an accord then." Loki smirked as a breeze shifted through the garage. Tony felt a shiver run down his back and he closed his eyes. "Thor, you have already called for the Arbiter, yes?"

"Loki." Tony heard Thor's tone with just a pinch of disapproval. Tony took a breath, his head feeling a little light, and there was a hand on his upper arm.

"He set the terms, and I merely agreed," Loki told him. "You know as well as I, until the Arbiter comes, he is bound to truth."

"What are you talking about? What did you do?" Oh, it was Steve that was holding onto him, if the closeness of his voice was anything to go by. Tony swallowed and opened his eyes, and immediately stumbled back. Steve put his other hand on his back to try and steady him. "Tony? Are you alright?"

"No," Tony warbled out. Things were drifting in his vision, like he was on a boat in the middle of the storm. "I feel too light."

"Someone keeps back a lot of secrets, sounds like," Loki said with a little smirk. Of course he could smirk, he was able to sit down.

"If I don't start getting some answers-" Steve started to growl out before Loki started talking.

"Since Stark and I have entered an agreement, we both must only speak the truth until an Arbiter comes." Loki spoke like this was the simplest concept on the planet. "An Arbiter will gather copies of memories to review, some from myself and some from Stark, and they will then send word of my innocence, or not, back with Thor for the Allfather to review. If one has a good many number of secrets, or things that they keep close to their chest for one reason or another, they will feel very light," Loki explained. "They could feel weightless to a point. I am accustomed to the feeling by now, so I know how to center the feeling."

"This, this is inhumane!" Tony shouted, closing his eyes after a second, everything spinning. "It's against my rights, or some kind of bullshit! I've been violated!"

"It is not my fault that you have a great many things that you wish not to share with others," Loki lazily threw back at him. "Sit down before you fall and break something." Tony offered a half-hearted glared and Steve gently pulled him over to one of the cars, opening the door for him to sit down in. Tony leaned back, spreading out in the backseat of the car.

"Tony?" Steve asked quietly, and Tony grunted in response. "Is it true?"

"Yes," Tony answered automatically. "Please, just, please be careful with what you ask." Tony wanted to control this as best he could.

"Please don't get angry." Tony pushed himself up, leaning back on his elbows, looking at Steve. He never would have thought that Steve Rogers would take advantage of the situation, but he had been surprised before. "Have you been avoiding talking about what happened in the gym last week?"

"Yes," Tony told him, really, unable to help himself. "I've been sticking with the saying 'What happens in the gym, stays in the gym', much like what I said that very same night as well." Tony dropped back down, groaning a little. "You would be the one to be all respectful about this. There are a hundred and one things that you could be asking me about."

"Didn't think you'd want to talk about them," Steve replied. "If what Loki says is true, and you're feeling pretty lightweight, then you have a lot you don't say."

"And that doesn't make you angry?" Tony asked, his arm dropping over his eyes. He was pretty sure that Captain America's eyes would make him starting spilling his guts on their own.

"Not angry, no." Tony felt the 'but' brush up against him, become a good friend. "Just trying to tell myself that there must be a reason for you to keep it all locked up so tight."

"I do," Tony said. "Almost everyone that I let in betrays me, they hurt me, and I had to learn early on how to protect myself."

"Was Howard part of that reason?" Steve asked softly, sounding like he already knew the answer.

"Steve," Tony all but pleaded quietly.

"Sorry," the younger man said. They sat there silently for several minutes, Tony trying to push all his emotions back down where they belonged, and Steve standing vigilant by the car. There was another breeze through the garage, and Steve tapped Tony's knee. "I think their Arbiter is here."

Steve helped Tony up, waited until he got his balance, then walked over to where Thor talking to someone. The blond turned and they saw a woman in long robes, dark skin and hair, but with light grey eyes. "Anthony, Steven, I introduce Arbiter Taleigh."

Tony wasn't sure what he was expecting, but suddenly he was thrown into buried memories. The blue power from the scepter was wrapping around him again and he gasped for air, words and whispers sounding loud to his ears. He was reliving nightmares, the feeling of a hand with too many fingers grabbing him, holding him down. The missile headed for the Chitauri ship, the iciness of space wrapping around him again.

'He will find you.'

Tony pulled away, gasping for breath, and fell back to the floor, stumbling. His hands were shaking and he shot a glare at the woman, then too Loki when he saw her walking over to him. Tony wrapped his arms around his knees, shaking his head minutely at Steve. Being touched was the last thing he wanted right now. His skin tingled and crawled, and he needed to try and shake it off again.

The woman stepped up to Loki, pressing two fingers to his forehead, and his own memories started to play around them like a hologram. Tony felt dread snake through him when he realized that they others must have seen everything, just like they were seeing Loki's memories. Tony dug his nails into his leg a little when he saw the familiar hand of an alien approach Loki, then he forced himself to look away.

There was a silence, after a couple of moments, and Thor was speaking softly with the Arbiter. When Tony was sure she was gone, he pushed himself up, confident his legs would hold him up, and walked over to Loki's little prison.

"Wake up Mary," Tony demanded. He was done messing around. "You got what you wanted, now give me what I want. Now." Loki simply held up his cuffed hands, and Tony put his hand out behind him, palm up. "Key."

"Anthony, I do not think-"

"Key!" Tony shouted, and Loki smirked a tiny bit. Tony never looked away from Loki. "You'll wake her up-"

"Tony." He was suddenly turned around by a hand on his arm. Steve had stepped into the cordoned off area. "Come on, let's go back upstairs."

"Not until he wakes up Mary," Tony hissed.

"She won't wake until after I leave," Loki interrupted, and Steve found himself wrapping an arm around Tony's waist to keep him from launching at Loki. "It's the nature of the spell, and I cannot change it."

"You said that you would wake her up! We agreed-"

"And it will happen," Loki hissed, stepping closer to Steve and Tony suddenly. He narrowed his eyes at Tony. "I cannot control how this magic will work, and the only thing that you must do is wait for it to work. That is the only thing you can do."

Tony growled and Steve picked up Tony enough so that his feet left the ground and he was able to drag him away from Loki. "I think it's time to leave," Steve mumbled and turned Tony so he was facing away from the dark haired alien before setting him back down on his feet. "You told Peter that you would sit next to him at dinner," Steve reminded the inventor. "You both had a great day today, and you can at least make sure that he has a great night as well."

"I'm upset that you know my weakness," Tony muttered under his breath. He took a deep breath, and then another, closing his eyes for a second, then opened them again. "Fine, but only because I know that Rachel makes a fantastic apple cake, and if I'm not on top of it, Wade will try to find the peanut butter, and Peter can't say no to Wade."

"But, Peter knows he's allergic to nuts," Steve said with a little frown, managing to push tony into a walk, out of the garage and back upstairs. "I thought Wade knew that, too."

"He does, but when those two get worked up, Wade forgets, and Peter trusts Wade blindly, and really they're just having fun, and I can't really blame them-" Tony stopped and looked at Steve when Steve's bigger hand was place over his mouth, stopping his rambling.

"I don't even think you have peanut butter in this house," Steve told him. "Or any kind of nut, actually."

"Don't want a repeat performance of when we found out about the allergy," Tony said. He stopped when he found himself up in the main hall with Steve. When had they made it all the way upstairs? "I don't know if I could get my doctor here that fast again."

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy." Peter's voice came down the hall, the little boy hopping on both feet towards the two men. "Granpa says that dinner is ready."

Tony took a couple steps forward, grabbing Peter around the waist, lifting him up and into his arms "Were you hopping around like a bunny? Are you a bunny?"

"No," Peter giggled. "I'm not a bunny, I'm a boy."

Tony hummed and he and Steve started walking again, towards the dining room. "I don't know, I saw this really big bunny just now, hopping down the hall, not a boy."

"I saw a bunny, too," Steve said, a little smirk on his face.

"Mr Steve! It's me!" Peter leaned over in Tony's arms, Tony having to adjust to hold onto the wiggly boy. "I'm not a bunny!"

"Whoa!" Steve looked at him. "Tony! There's a Peter in your arms!"

"Steve, don't be silly, I found a big bunny," Tony said, shaking his head. "I do have to show this to Peter though."

"Daddy!" Peter laughed, twisting and turning in Tony's arms, until he wrapped his arms around Tony's neck. "Bunny's can't hug like I do!"

Tony hugged him back, smiling. "That's a Peter hug! This is one of the best hugs in the universe." Peter reached over Tony's arms, his own arms out, looking at Steve expectantly. "You are being offered something here, Cap, something that no amount of my considerable fortune will ever be able to buy." Steve chuckled and leaned in close to let Peter wrap his arms around his neck in a hug, hugging him back even though Tony didn't want to let the boy go. Steve tugged gently on Peter, and Tony stumbled a little. He turned his head to look at Steve, putting on an exaggerated look of shock.

"Are you trying to take my Peter from me?" Tony tugged back, making Peter giggle.

"What if I want to hold the Peter?" Steve said, trying to walk away with Peter still in the hug hold.

"Then you need to get your own Peter," Tony said keeping up with Steve. "This one is mine, and I happen to like this Peter very much."

"There is no other Peter like your Peter, though," Steve counter argued. Peter wiggled his whole body between the two men, making them move closer together so he didn't fall. He was too busy having fun. "I want this Peter."

"Nope, my Peter." Tony shook his head. They all walked into the dining room and suddenly Peter was plucked from both of their grips.

"I think I'll take this." Clint had stolen the little boy, holding him up over his arms, and took off running to the other side of the large dining table. Peter squealed in delight, putting his arms out like a bird. Clint put him down in a chair and turned a grin over to Tony and Steve. "He's like a little bird."

"I always thought he was like a little spider," Natasha said, making both men jump as she walked behind them and over to Clint and Peter. Wade ran in after her taking his seat next to Peter. The table was already set with food, Bruce at his seat, next to Thor. Peter was sitting next to Wade and they were both sitting across from Coulson, who had been cleared for light walking, and the trip from his bed to the dining room was perfect. Clint and Natasha walked over to sit on either side of Coulson, and Steve and Tony went over to their seats; Tony next to Peter and Steve next to Wade. William came out with one last dish of food, and Rachel right behind him with a fresh apple cake that had Tony staring at it.

"You touch this cake before it's time for desert, and I'm giving Peter your slice," Rachel told the billionaire as she set it down on the table.

"You know for all the differences we have, I am a sucker for your apple cake," Tony told her seriously.

"I'm filing that information away," the older woman smirked, and Tony blinked, realizing he had given her useful ammunition for the future.

"Did you have fun today, Peter?" William asked when he sat down, and everyone descended on the food. Tony took over putting food on Peter's plate as the dishes were passed around.

"Yeah," Peter nodded, taking a biscuit from the plate that Tony put in front of him. "Daddy took Wade and me to the park, then he let us get ice cream."

"Tell them why you two got ice cream," Tony prompted.

"We saw a dog running through the park," Wade piped up. "And we caught the dog, and we found his owner, and she let us play with her dog!"

"It was lots of fun," Peter grinned at his grandparents as they told the story. Tony smiled to himself as he ate, listening to the boys. Today had been one of the most normal days, which made it a very not normal day for Tony Stark. He had worn his hat and sunglasses, and he was pretty sure that he hadn't had his picture taken at the park, so there was another plus. Tony thought that he would give up all the fame, the traveling, the big fancy mansions and towers, if he could spend every day with his son like today. He'd want to keep some of the money though, so he could support Peter, indulge all his curiosities in learning new subjects and hobbies.

Tomorrow Tony had plans to get back to the Tower, make sure that everyone would have a room there, starting with Peter's room, Mary's room, and a room for Coulson. He had finished those designs first, then started on guest floors. And between just him and Jarvis, he had floors for each Avenger. The inspectors had gone through the Tower a couple days ago, and it was structurally sound, and all his permits were still active. Tony hoped that when Thor finally took Loki back to wherever, he'd be able to at least have guest rooms prepared.

* * *

Tony hadn't been expecting everyone to leave as soon as Thor and Loki did though. Clint and Natasha had to get back to SHIELD, already spending way too long away. Bruce said he would stay, but Tony had been expecting that. What had really caught Tony by surprise was when Clint and Natasha had shown up with Steve's old motorcycle, he knew that Steve wasn't going to stay. The old bike offered him a chance to get out and experience more, that wasn't part of a mission.

Peter and Wade had stayed back at the mansion with Coulson, so less of a chance of Peter appearing in the papers when people finally realized who was walking into the park, and what was happening.

Bruce pushed Tony towards Steve, who was examining the restored motorcycle. Tony shot Bruce a little glare, but then felt Steve's gaze on him.

"Tony-" Steve started, but Tony cut him off.

"You gotta do what you gotta do, Cap," Tony shrugged a little, hands in his pockets. "You can't ignore a beauty like that, she's gotta see the country, you know." Steve glanced back at the bike. "Seriously, who knows when the next time you'll be able to do this will be. You're still practically unknown to the outside world, better take advantage of that while you still can."

"It's not like I'll be gone for long," Steve said, lacking his usual confidence. "Still got my apartment here, and everything."

"If you don't go, I'm going to kick you," Tony told him. "But you better take lots of pictures." Tony pulled one of the prototype Starkphones out of his pocket. He had planned on giving it to Steve on the way back to the Tower, but this worked, too. "Peter will never let you live it down if you don't have something to show when you get back." Steve blinked as he took the phone. "It's got all the important numbers in there, and I got that number. I'll let you know the second something happens here." He was purposely trying to avoid things that might make Steve feel guilty for leaving, but they both knew that they were talking when Mary woke up.

"Thank you, Tony." Steve moved a couple steps closer, then stopped, not knowing what to do. Tony put his hand out, grasping Steve's hand in a firm shake.

"We'll see you soon." Steve nodded at him, and Tony made himself walk away first, heading back over to Bruce and the car.

"What the hell was that," Bruce looked at Tony as he walked back over. Tony heard Steve start the motorcycle, heard the engine roar, before it took off down the road.

"I think that was a motorcycle," Tony said, heading for the driver's seat. "Didn't get a good look at it, so I can't tell you specifics-"

"You are impossible," Bruce muttered as he slipped into the sports car.

"I'm a lot of things, Brucie-bear," Tony told him, starting the car. "Let's switch out cars and grab the kiddo. Coulson will follow us over when they move Mary."

"You've got Jarvis already set-up at the Tower?" Bruce asked as they headed back for the mansion.

"I just had to reconnect the Tower to the servers," Tony told him. "He never technically left the building, the power was just turned off. I got lucky actually, the Tower didn't take too much damage compared to the rest of the city. Cap helped me get the windows replaced, and we're working on the damage to the lower floors, but all living areas have been cleared to live in. Makes it easier to work there if I'm already living there." Bruce just hummed, nodding.

* * *

Steve leaned against his motorcycle, looking out as the street lamps of the little town started to light up. He had just passed from Pennsylvania into Ohio, riding through Pittsburgh, and decided to stop for the night. Steve liked finding the little towns, the little places; they had so much more life with the locals that lived there, so much more history.

Pulling out his phone, he snapped a picture of the street. The glass globes over the lights reflecting off the glass windows of the little shops still open, couples walking down the sidewalk. Steve lowered his phone, catching sight of a couple with a little boy between them. The boy couldn't be older than Peter, holding the hands of his parents, letting them swing him in the air every other step. He missed Peter. And Tony.

Steve straightened up and straddled his bike, slipping the phone back in his pocket. He needed to find a hotel to stay in for the night. He had spent most of the day in this town, and in the morning he would continue on until he felt like turning south. Even though he had only been gone four days, Steve couldn't get New York out of his mind, and a lot of the people there.

He pulled out his ear buds, taking a moment to frown and untangle them, again, and opened his playlist on his phone before starting his motorcycle. Steve had filled it with a lot of his guilty pleasure songs that only Mary knew about, (and she hadn't let him live down his choices yet), but this time when he pressed play he frowned when a song he didn't remember adding started to play. The screen lit up and he smiled gently, thinking that Peter must have added the song to his computer as some point.

 _'I have dreams like, no really! Just much less, touchy feely. They mainly happen somewhere warm and sunny! On an island that I own, tanned, and rested, and alone! Surrounded by enormous piles of money!'_

Peter had obsessed over the movie 'Tangled' for probably four months after it had come out, wanting to watch it all the time. Steve was pretty sure he had the whole thing memorized, along with songs, with how many times Peter had watched it. He remembered this part of the song because Peter had announced that his Daddy had an island, and Steve thought of Tony every time he heard the song now. Had the movie come out before Steve had figured out who Peter's Dad was, claiming to own an island would have raised an eyebrow, now it wasn't much of a shock.

Steve started his motorcycle and pulled into the street, passing the family, a little smile on his face.

* * *

Tony wrinkled his nose as he looked at Steve's playlist. He was laying out on the couch, Starkpad in his lap, Peter sitting under his legs, sketchbook balanced on Tony's knees. Bruce came into the living room, handing a plate with a sandwich to Peter, who accepted it with a _Thank You_ , and dropped a water bottle on Tony's chest.

"Where is he now?" Bruce asked as he took a seat in the single seat chair next to the couch.

"In Ohio," Tony answered, eyes still on the Starkpad. To be fair, he hadn't started keeping tabs on Steve until day two, and that was because Peter had asked about him. "This is atrocious," he muttered. "What kind of travel playlist is this?" Bruce raised an eyebrow at him. "He's listening to Mandy Moore!"

"She's the voice of Rapunzel!" Peter said with a big grin. "Can we watch Tangled?"

"Tomorrow, bud," Tony said, reaching over to mess up Peter's hair. "If we start it now, it'll go past your bed time."

"Is there something wrong with what he's listening, too?" Bruce asked, picking up his own sandwich to start eating.

"Well, there wouldn't be, if he had filled up the phone with other music as well," Tony said, and looked over at his friend. "He has Nineties Boy Bands on here!"

"Why are you going through his music?"

"He's using a Starkphone, and I'm collecting data on it," Tony said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He just accessed the music player,... Hang on, if he insists on listening to this stuff..." Tony trailed off, opening his own music files and slipping a few songs into Steve's playlist, letting the song from his sons current favorite movie play first. "I will get him to listen to good music, even if I have to slowly replace every song."

"You mean songs that you listen too?" Bruce smirked a little, watching Tony.

"I can't help that I have so much better taste in music than he does," Tony defended.

"He was used to songs from the Forties, Tony."

"And he's had nearly two years to get used to songs from the future."

"I think it's going to take a little more time than that to get through seventy years of music," Bruce told the billionaire.

"That's okay, I've got time to help him with that." Tony grinned and Bruce shook his head.

"You could call him." Tony looked up and over at Bruce, expression not amused by the suggestion. "It's a valid suggestion."

"Maybe for someone other than the inventor of the hottest current smartphone," Tony shot back. "Who needs to call when I can just send message from my seat?"

"Did you know that you have an AI that can place a phone call, all from the comfort of your current seat?" Bruce was casual as he finished his meal.

"But I can't multi-task talking on the phone and doing something else, that would be seen as rude. You want me to appear to be a rude person?" Tony put a hand on his chest, eyes wide. "Bruce, I thought you liked me! Why are you trying to turn me into a horrible person?" Tony tried not to smile when he heard the soft giggles from Peter. Even his son was used to his exaggerated dramatics. The difference between his reaction, and the look that Bruce was giving him, was that Peter still found his Daddy amusing. Bruce wasn't falling for it.

"I'm not going to justify that with an answer," Bruce told him, rolling his eyes a little.

"Because I'm right?" Tony ventured with a smile. He could practically feel Bruce's eyes rolling from his seat. Peter had exchanged the notebook and the empty plate on Tony's legs, the plate now balancing on Tony's thighs. He was too comfy to move from being blanketed by Tony's legs, and Tony wasn't about to give up his position with his son.

"Because you're so far from being right, it's almost laughable," Bruce said as he got up from his chair. He grabbed peter's plate, earning a bright smile and a ' _Thank you, Uncle Bruce_ ,' from the boy. Tony smiled at Peter for his manners, knowing that he didn't get them from Tony, and turned back to his Starkpad, contemplating the next few songs to slip into Steve's playlist. This was just some harmless fun, and a painless way to have tease Steve for leaving on a cross-country adventure. Right?

It wasn't too long after that he noticed Peter's yawns, his hand stilling with the pencil that was on his sketch paper. Tony put his Starkpad down on the coffee table, trusting Bruce to make sure it didn't fall, and reached over to take the pencil from Peter's hand before he accidentally messed up his drawing. Peter made a little noise of protest when Tony took the sketchbook too, Bruce taking it to place it with the tablet. He wrapped his arms around Peter and brought him up to his chest, tucking him into his arms as he leaned back against the arm of the couch. Peter yawned again, laying his head on Tony's chest, and tucking his body in between Tony's arm and side, closing his eyes.

Tony ran his hand through Peter's hair as he slept. Although he would never admit it, Tony thought that the Tower felt a little empty now that half of the house guests were gone. He had kind of gotten used to regular meal times, with the dining room full of people, running into people randomly throughout the day, talking with Steve.

Tony frowned a little at his thoughts. He leaned down and kissed Peter's forehead softly, and got up quietly and gently with Peter still in his arms, taking him to his bedroom. Mary's parents were still around the Tower, not wanting to leave until Mary woke up, and Coulson was there as well, traveling between Tony's floor and Mary's floor. Which to be honest would become Mary and Agent's floor soon if they decided to live together.

He managed to get Peter to wake up enough to change into his pajamas and then tucked him under the blankets, slipping a stuffed animals into his arms. Tony took a quiet pleasure in acting like what he thought a normal parent would do, one who hadn't grown up in the spotlight of cameras and privilege. It was also another reason why he was generally alright with Peter living full time with Mary, because he wanted Peter to have a somewhat normal upbringing. He wanted Peter to be able to understand how everyone lived, to be able to connect on some level with people who did weekly grocery shopping on their own, those that lived on a budget and didn't shop exclusively at designer stores, and where eating out was a luxury event, not an option that could happen if you were bored.

Making sure that the nightlight was on, Tony left the room, leaving the door open a crack with the hallway nightlight on. Tony ruffled his hair and headed back for the living room, Bruce still in his chair, but this time with his own tablet out while Tony's was waiting for him on the coffee table, Peter's sketchbook next to it. He sat down on the edge of the couch and leaned forward to glance at the sketchbook page. Peter had been very carefully working on the page for about an hour, drawing slowly, with deliberate movements. Last time he had asked his son about a sketch, he had clammed up until the drawing was done, moving his body to cover it every time Tony tried to look at it. So now he just let Peter work on his art without interruption, knowing he would ask for help or opinions when he wanted it.

On the page was clearly the beginnings of the Captain America shield, taking up one half of the page, while something else was starting to take shape on the other half. It was only a vague outline, Peter taking more time to get the star on the shield as perfect as his little six-year-old hands could make it. Tony thought that with the shape of the other object it could be the start of a head, but he wouldn't know for sure until Peter started working on it again.

"You could always send a text message," Bruce said from his seat, and Tony groaned, flopping down onto the couch.

"You're a horrible influence, Banner!"

"Pretty sure that should be the other way around, Stark."


	17. June 2011 - July 2011

**A/N: A couple notes to go over. Good news, Bad news, really on this first one. This story is coming to an end. It's either going to the be next chapter, or the chapter after that, but then, that's it. *sniff sniff* That's the Bad news. Good news! The sequel will come out within the week of it ending! Like, seriously, I have years planned for our boys. All the way up to Peter's High School years. (And a couple more Marvel movies to put in here. Not. Civil War. My emotions can't handle the trailers, or any interviews, so nope. All aboard the Nopetrain to Nopeville in the heart of Nope City!) The next chapter will have the title of the new fic, so you'll know what to look for.**

 **Secondly, I've posted a one-shot featuring Mary and Steve. It's in the series, and it's set between Chapter 6 & 7 of this fic. It's totally fun, all comedy and fluff. Steve is dancing, Mary is dancing, there's Justin Timberlake, and My Best Friend's Wedding references. (All you really need to know about that movie, is the last scene between Jules and George.) There'll be a few more one-shots coming, as well, and then a few multi-chapter fics that are much shorter than this one, and the next.**  
 **In short, I have lots of plans.**

 **You're all beautiful and I adore you.**

 _Chapters 17, and 18 posted all at once, don't miss a chapter! :)_

 **Unbeta'd, and Marvel owns more of this than I do. Disney owns them and the movie Tangled. Also, all music belongs to those that wrote/performed/produced/etc them. I use them for humor and good times.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**

* * *

When Steve pulled into a parking spot and shut off his motorcycle, he was aware of muffled music coming from nearby. When he looked next to him he saw someone sitting in their car, an older model, bright red, convertible car with a black-top, with their music playing loudly. Steve blinked, not quite sure what he was witnessing. There was a young woman with what looked like pink hair, sitting in the car, singing almost as loudly with the music, her upper body seeming to be moving with the music. He couldn't help but stare as she was, what he could only think to call it, dancing. It was like nothing he had ever seen before, and he had seen Peter dancing to some of his favorite cartoons before.

The song ended, and the woman shut off her radio, grabbing something from the car, and turning to open the door. As the door opened, she looked over, blinked, saw Steve looking at her, then smiled, cheeks flushing a little. "Judging by the look on your face, I can tell that you've been watching for a while."

"Maybe not that long," Steve said after a second, realizing that she was indeed talking to him. She got out the car, slamming the door shut probably little harder than usual, and turned to face him. "Less than a minute really."

"Enough to see me enjoying a song," she chuckled, hooking the keys of her car to one of her belt loops. "I'm not going to pretend that what I was doing was dancing, and it's not the first time I've gotten odd looks, I just really like music."

"The song sounded a little familiar." Steve had gotten off of his motorcycle, pushing his sunglasses on the top of his head. They were both in the parking lot of a little restaurant, a hole in the wall really, but when Steve had asked for a place to eat this place had come up the most. "I think I have that song, or something similar at least, on my playlist."

The woman raised an eyebrow at him, looking a little disbelieving at his claim, but there was still a bit of a smile on her face. "You listen to Backstreet Boys?"

"Yeah," he smiled, happy with himself that he hadn't been wrong. "I haven't, uh, listened to music in a long time, so I'm catching up. On music, like, all of it." She raised both eyebrows at him now.

"When did you start?" She asked him.

"Um, last year?"

"I meant what decade," she said with a chuckle. "But it's nice to know how long you have under your belt. Have you never listened to music before that?"

"I did," he said quickly. How was he supposed to explain to her that it had been a while without saying, 'I was frozen in the ice and lost lots of time'? "I listened to a lot of Forties music."

She let out a long whistle, nodding her head. "And you've made it to the Nineties, congratulations. I would have thought that it would have taken a lot longer to make it that far. There are still a lot of people stuck in the Seventies and Eighties."

"I started with the most recent music," Steve confessed. He was not a huge fan of most of the music that had come out recently, and maybe it had been a mistake to start that way, but he had hoped that it help him adjust to the current time a little more quickly.

"I, myself, am a huge fan of the Nineties music, specially Pop music," the woman confessed. "I'm probably still stuck there, but the music was good, and just felt like more value was placed in vocal harmonies..." She trailed off for a second, not looking too positive in her statement. "Well, with some artists. That doesn't even cover some of the instrumental songs that came in the early Two-Thousands. Like I said, I just really like music, and there's not enough time in the day to talk about it. I've probably taken up too much of your time as it is."

"Funnily enough, time is what I have the most of right now," Steve said. He glanced back at the little place, then back at the pink haired woman. He stuck his hand out to her, and she started to shake it before he even started talking. "My name's Steve."

"I'm Meg," she responded with a smile.

"Are you meeting someone for lunch?" Steve asked suddenly. This was something that he usually would never do, something that Tony would do honestly, but he was tired of eating all his meals by himself. After nearly two weeks traveling, he had found all the good spots to eat, and for once he'd like some company. He never had to worry about eating alone, or even in silence, back in at Tony's Manor.

"Nah," she shook her head, shrugging a little, taking a couple steps towards the front entrance. "I was just gonna order something to go, honestly."

"This may seem weird, or forward, but can I interest you in having lunch with me?" Steve asked, trying to sound confident, but pretty sure that he came off as awkward. "I mean, then we could continue talking about music? Maybe you could add to my playlist, give some suggestions."

Meg looked at Steve for a second, probably trying to decide if it was a good idea. Steve couldn't blame her, and he was a little glad that she was thinking about it, using some common sense. "You know what, why not. I can already hear about three of my friends in my head, saying that this is probably too impulsive, but it sucks eating alone."

"Would it help if I gave my word that I'm not a serial killer?" Steve asked as he opened the door for them, letting her walk in first.

"Well, that's what a serial killer would say to get me off my guard." She picked a booth for them to sit at, putting one of the menus in front of him.

"I gave you my real name," Steve countered as he sat across from her.

"Because Steve isn't one of the most popular first names in the past, like, hundred years," she snorted with a smirk. "Alright, creeper, let's see the playlist. I'm going to judge you on your music choices while you look over the menu." Steve took out his phone, setting it on the counter and picked up the laminated menu. "Is this a Starkphone?"

"Yeah," Steve nodded, thanking the waitress when she brought over some waters for them. "I know, it's got a lot of bells and whistles on it, and I've pretty much only mastered the music app. Do you-" He lowered the menu a little to help her unlock the phone, and blinked. She had already unlocked the phone, had the music app open, and was looking through his road trip playlist.

"I haven't seen this model yet," she said. "I didn't think that Stark had released a new one yet. Oh! I love this song!" Steve smiled, this young woman reminding him of Mary.

Tony blinked when he saw that Steve's playlist was active, and new songs were starting to show up. "Jarvis? Steve's still in Michigan, right?"

"Yes, Sir," the AI confirmed. "He is currently in a restaurant."

Tony hummed and nodded, then scrunched his nose up. "No, no, no," he started to shake his head. "Really, Britney Spears, Steven?" He let out a little gasp. "No one listens to Paint it Black unless it's by the Rolling Stones, not some Vanessa Carlton." Tony opened up a screen with all his music, and brought up the connection to Steve's music app next to it. "This needs to be rectified immediately."

Steve munched on a fry, his phone on the table between him and Meg, her showing him how to discover new artists that were similar to what he was already listening, too. "Usually, the top songs will be first here, so you can get a vague idea if you'll like them or not. That's not always true for every case, because sometimes artists decide to change their sound completely in the same album, without warning." Steve chuckled as she glared at the phone.

The phone started to play a song suddenly, and Meg's hands shot up and over her head, hands out in a surrender gesture. "I didn't do it! I also didn't play that song." She leaned back in, looking at the phone. "Although, admittedly, The White Stripes is a pretty good band."

Steve leaned over the phone, picking it up to look at it. The song changed again and Steve raised his eyebrow. "Okay, that's the original Paint It Black, not the cover. Usually phones aren't able to play songs on their own, and like no one is able to hack Starktech, at least not new models."

"No one except for the one who created it," Steve muttered as he paused the song. Tony had sent him a text when he updated the Map app with a suggested course across the country, so he knew that Tony could access his phone from New York. "Really, Tony?"

"Are you trying to tell me that Tony Stark is hacking into your music?" Steve looked up to see Meg's face. "Is he doing it to all Starkphones?"

"Only this one," Steve told her. "This isn't for sale yet, it's a prototype."

Her jaw dropped a little. "You have a prototype from Tony Stark himself? How did you manage that, and can I get in on this?" Steve chuckled and let a little smile turn his lips up when he saw another song pop up in his playlist. "That's a smile of familiarity. Do you work with him?"

"Uh, you could say that?" Steve glanced up at her, then blinked when he saw a devious looking smile on her face. "What?"

"You liiiiiike him," she sing-songed. Steve's eyes widened a little, and Meg started to cackle quietly. "You really like him! And that's why he's messing with your music." She reached into her pocket pulling out her own phone. "Alright, I'm gonna need details, let's do this. I can be an awesome wingman."

"Sir, a new playlist has been created," Jarvis said, bringing Tony back to Steve's screen.

' _Best Songs_ '

"Oh, this should be good." Tony opened the file, seeing only two songs there so far. "What the- Pocketful of Sunshine and I Want It That Way? Jarvis, vitals! I'm not having a stroke am I?"

"No, Sir." Tony groaned and let his forehead fall on his desk.

"Keep an eye on that playlist! I have to make my own to counteract everything that he puts on there." Tony lifted his head, making a new playlist under that one. " _Better Songs_ ," Tony murmured as he titled it and added Iron Man and Back In Black. "I swear, it's like he's doing this on purpose, just to drive me crazy."

* * *

 **July 2011**

Tony tapped his fingers on the counter, watching Bruce at the stove. Peter and his grandparents were at a water park for the day, the heat not so bad on the July day. Tony hadn't actually paid attention to the weather though while working in his workshop, he had overheated one of the main servers. Now he had to wait for the Tower to cool down, (Jarvis was blasting the AC around the workshop), and wait for the power to be restored to that section on its own. He was bored.

"Why don't you go see what Coulson's doing?" Bruce suggested, turning around with a mug of tea.

"Paperwork," Tony muttered. "I get enough paperwork with Pepper and SI, I don't need his paperwork as well."

"So, don't you have your own paperwork to fill out?" Bruce sat down across from him at the kitchen island. He was getting a head start on dinner. Tony scrunched up his face, almost offended at the suggestion. "Tony, you're bored, and you're starting to annoy me. I have no idea if Steve is going to be back for his birthday," Tony's head shot up, looking scandalized, "and I wish you would just text him to find out if he is."

"He's not answering my texts after I put ' _Sweet Home Alabama_ ' in his playlist as soon as he crossed the state lines into Alabama," Tony said, leaning his head down on the counter. "Then made sure that all song by the band Alabama were played exclusively."

"I can't imagine why he would stop responding to you after that." Bruce gave Tony a deadpanned expression.

"I know! It was funny as shit!" Tony smiled a little. He had laughed when he made the custom playlist, and made sure that the only thing Steve could do was mess with the volume, and press pause and play.

"Seriously, Tony," Bruce said with a little sigh. "Go do something around the tower, find something to take up your time until Peter gets back."

Tony groaned a little, wobbled his head, then pushed himself up from the chair. He grabbed his tablet and Bruce waved to him as he headed for the elevator. Tony checked on Steve's playlist as Jarvis took him down one floor.

Coulson had already been in to check on Mary, his usual chair had a blanket draped over it, with a tablet sitting on the seat. Tony put his own tablet on the bedside table, glanced on the bed, then let himself, gently, flop down next to Mary on the bed. If it weren't for the oxygen mask on her face, it would look like she was just sleeping.

Tony glanced at her, on his stomach, face pressed into a pillow. "Funnily enough, I'm always in this position when I'm in bed with you. Last time, when we made a baby, I remember landing like this, next to you, but there was at least a smile on both of our faces." He snorted softly, then brought his arms up to pillow his head on. "I'm going to assume that No one else has measured up to me in bed, because my ego demands it." Tony turned his head the other way, glancing at tablet on the bedside stand, but not moving to grab it. "I know why you didn't want to sleep with me again, because you got together with Agent, and I totally understand. The one time we slept together we had Peter. And while I could have a hundred Peter's, none of them would be as awesome as our little boy, and man would your body hate me. It's obvious that my body is just that awesome, pregnant in one."

"S'full ovyurself." Tony jumped up when he heard the soft response. He turned to look at Mary and saw her eyes cracked open, looking in his direction. "Ego."

"Fuck! Mary, holy fuck!" He moved closer to her, hands hovering but not touching yet. "Shit, uh, how's your breathing? Are you in pain? Should I move? Uh-"

"I've contacted Dr Banner," Jarvis spoke up helpfully. "He is on his way."

The corner of Mary's lips turned up a little, and she slowly lifted her hand closest to Tony up, Tony instantly reaching forward to take in both of his. He leaned his head down, resting his forehead on her shoulder lightly, closing his eyes when he felt Mary's other hand rest gently on top of his head. A couple of tears leaked onto the shoulder of the shirt that she was wearing, but neither of them would say anything about it.

Bruce walked in, a small smile on his face, stethoscope in his hand. "Just going to make it clear, this is not going to be a regular thing." Mary smiled at him, nodding once, and Tony sat back on his legs.

"We all know that's not going to stick," Tony said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "You're the only Doc that I trust with my life." Tony grinned at the look that Bruce shot him. Tony made himself comfortable on the bed while Bruce did what he needed to do with Mary. He eventually took the breathing mask off, and Tony moved to help get her sitting up in the bed.

"You're probably going to be feeling sore for a bit," Bruce told her, eventually having to stop Tony from putting too many pillows behind her. "But, no worries, we have a plan for that."

"I have a plan for that," Tony corrected him. Mary rolled her eyes a little, and pat Tony's knee with her hand.

"You have a lot to fill me in on," Mary said softly. Bruce handed her a cup of water with a straw, letting her take small sips to wet her mouth and throat.

"I do!" Tony reached over and grabbed his tablet. "Jarvis, get a song queued up to play on Steve's playlist. Something with Mary in the title, let's get the message across."

"I shall take care of it, Sir."

Tony grinned then made himself comfortable, sitting next to Mary on the bed. Bruce took a couple more readings from the equipment around her, made sure she was comfortable, then left them, shutting the door. Tony reached over, taking Mary's hand and lacing his fingers with her. "I won't tell Agent about this if you won't," Tony said with a little smile. Mary lifted their hands and planted a soft kiss on his knuckles.

"Talk to me, Tony." Four simple words from someone that he had wanted to talk to for nearly six weeks, and he was nearly in tears again.

"Okay, well, first things first, you've been out for like, six weeks," Tony told her. "Most of your other injuries have healed, and I'm sure that Jarvis is monitoring your brain activity."

"Indeed I am," the AI answered.

"So no worries there at least. Barton filled us in on what happened with you, and-" he put his other hand on her arm when it looked like she was going to interrupt him, "he's fine, I'll get there. We got Loki and the Tesseract, and we sent both of them back with Thor to Asgard."

"I bet Fury was thrilled,' she said, looking at Tony as he spoke.

"He was actually pretty okay with sending the Cube back, and we were all okay with sending the other prick back as well." Tony stopped himself from huffing through his nose. "There was an alien invasion, and we stopped that, saved the world, so yay. Oh, and Fury made us think that Agent was dead, but then we found out that he wasn't, and we brought him back, and now he's doing paperwork in one of my office suites of the Tower. Oh yeah! We're all in the Tower now, and it's July."

Mary looked at Tony, blinked a couple times, taking in all the information. She didn't have much time to digest it all before the door opened, and there was a loud, little, gasp. "Mama!" Peter saw that Mary was awake, eyes open, and sitting up, and he ran over to the bed. He was about to take a running leap, feet leaving the floor, and Tony reached over, grabbing him from the air, and settled in his lap. Peter wrapped his arms around Mary's neck, and Mary wrapped her arms around him, pulling him against her chest.

"You've been asleep for so long, and we were all sad, and Daddy said that if we took care of you that you would wake up faster, and so we took real good care of you, but you wouldn't wake up, and, and, and," Peter trailed off as he dissolved into soft sobs, holding onto Mary as tight as he dared.

Tony glanced over to the door, seeing Mary's parents walking in, tears in Rachel's eyes. "I'm awake now, baby boy," Mary said quietly, her own tears trailing down her cheeks. No one could resist an upset, crying child, it was like a punch to the gut. "I'm awake, I'm not going anywhere. I love you so much, Peter." Peter had tried to make himself as small as possible to fit entirely in Mary's arms, soft sniffles sounding as he held on for all he was worth.

Tony carded his hands through Peter's hair a few times before he leaned over to drop a kiss on the top of his head, and get up from the bed. Mary looked at him, but he just gave her a soft smile. "I'm gonna go tell Agent, and I'm gonna give your parents some time here." He turned to head out, catching both eyes from the Fitzpatrick's. Rachel nodded to him before walking over to the bed and to her daughter, and William put a hand on Tony's arm, for just a second. Tony didn't say anything but left the room a moment later, closing the door most of the way before his feet propelled him down the hall.

He knew that Coulson would know already, and that he would be there in no time at all, so Tony escaped to the only other place he would feel comfortable. "Black out protocol, subset B," Tony said quietly as soon as he entered his workshop. The windows frosted up, the lights dimming closest to the door and windows, and music started playing, albeit a lot quieter than usual. Usually he would blast the music, make the whole room shake and putting those earthquake sensors into test mode, but this was different. He still needed to know if his attention was needed, if anything happened, but he didn't want to be brought back to reality without a reason. Jarvis knew what to look for.

"Sir, Ms Parker requests your help," Jarvis said, cutting the music in the workshop. Tony looked up from the new gauntlet he was working on. He had had a few new ideas for the suit, and he wanted to make the suit more compatible with the new arc reactor. At the AI's words though, Tony put down the soldering gun and pushed himself away from the desk.

"What time is it, Jarvis?" Tony asked as he grabbed a rag, wiping his hands off, heading for the exit.

"It is Quarter to Eleven, Sir." Tony blinked a little. He'd been working a lot longer than he had thought. Hopping in the elevator, Tony let Jarvis take him to the right floor, stuffing the rag in his back pocket. The hallway to Mary's room was lit with a dim light, but he could see light spilling out from Mary's room itself. Gently pushing the door open, he peeked in to see that Mary was still awake, still sitting up in the bed, and there was a sleeping Peter against her chest. She waved him in.

Tony was pretty sure he knew what the problem was, and leaned in and expertly removed Peter from her arms, letting her relax, and held his son to his own chest, arms around him. Peter made soft noise, rolling a bit as he was moved, but when his hand settled on Tony's chest and his reactor, he calmed down and fell right back into a deep sleep.

"He gets clingy," Tony practically whispered, sitting on the edge of Mary's bed as he held Peter. "I didn't think that he would want to sleep alone tonight, I probably should have warned you."

"I had figured as much," Mary responded in the same soft tone. "And normally, I would have stayed like that all night-"

"You're technically still healing," Tony finished for her. "Let me get him to Agent then, and I'll come back to help you get comfortable."

"I can-" Tony turned a look on her and Mary stopped talking, giving a small smile back. "I'll stay just like this until you come back."

Tony let out a huff through his nose and gently got up with Peter in his arms. Coulson was just a couple rooms down the hall, a light still on. Tony knocked on the door and Phil wasted no time answering it, letting Tony come in.

"Hey, Petey," Tony said to the sleeping boy. "Time to sleep in a bed." Peter made a sound of protest, Tony rubbing his back. "Yeah, I know, but it's late and you're sleepy."

"M'not," the word slurred from the boys mouth, eyes not opening though.

"One day, you might be able to pull that off more convincingly." Tony let Coulson take the sleeping boy this time, dropping a kiss to Peter's forehead. "Goodnight, Petey." Coulson gave him a nod and a little smile, putting Peter on the bed and covering him with the blanket. Tony watched him sleep for a moment before leaving the room, going back to Mary's room.

True to her stubborn self, Mary was already trying to move back into a comfortable position. Tony couldn't even say anything, because he would be doing the exact same thing. He just walked in, leaned up on the bed next to her, and helped her try to slide back down without jostling her body too much.

"I imagine that probably your hip and your ribs hurt the most," Tony said as she adjusted to her right side.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Dr Banner and Jarvis explained my injuries to me, so I'm not too surprised I'm still in pain."

"Lying in a bed for that long probably didn't help either." Tony made sure that there were more pillows in her reach when she finally stopped moving. "I'll hit the light on the way-" he glanced back as her hand grabbed onto his wrist.

"I'm not tired yet," she said to him. "And you haven't gotten the time you need."

"You just woke up," Tony argued. "As cliché as it sounds, you do still need to rest, ease yourself into being back in the real world."

"I could hear you talking to me sometimes." Tony hadn't been expecting her to say that to him. "Tony, sit down and talk to me. At least reassure me about your arc reactor."

Tony took a deep breath before turning on his foot, sliding down onto the bed. Mary kept a hold on his wrist, but her hand slid down to rest over his. "Bruce and I figured out a new element. Amazingly it was Howard that did the ground work, hiding an element in the design of the Stark Expo. I saw it the opening night of the Expo. It took a day or so to get made, but we got it worked out, and I couldn't be feeling better." He pulled the collar of his shirt down to show her that the black lines had disappeared.

"Did Peter notice the difference?" Mary asked. She had also noticed that Peter picked up on the arc reactor in a strange, but not negative, way.

"Oh yeah," Tony said with a nod. "He liked it, said it felt like a good different. Jarvis runs regular scans on it, probably will for the first year or so, just to make sure that there are no negative side effects, or that the element does fail or start to degrade ahead of schedule."

"It can degrade?" Mary asked with a genuine curiosity.

"Every element degrades to a point, half-lifes, and all that scientific stuff," Tony said with a wave of his hand. "I really don't think we have to worry about it, though. Bruce came up with a very rough base estimation of a two-hundred year half-life." Mary whistled, and Tony chuckled a little. "This is me we're talking about though. With continued use of the Iron Man suit, and any testing that I'm sure to do, that'll probably be cut down by a third."

"Still nothing to worry about," she said with a nod. "I was worried about you, Tony. I trusted that you would figure something out, but I'd be lying if I said that I was worried that it might not be in time."

"I had everything worked out," he said in a soft voice. "All those ugly technicalities that no one likes to think about, or worry about."

Mary squeezed his hand once. "Alright, so that's the arc reactor, and Phil told me about the Expo."

"Ah, about how it was crashed, and how a certain Star Spangled Man showed up?" He shot a look her way, one that wanted to be angry and betrayed, but just couldn't get there. He understood why she kept it a secret, and he really wasn't hurt about it anymore, but he still wanted some kind of explanation.

"Because you would have accepted it so much easier if I told you, 'Hey, Howard's Golden Boy is back, I'm his Handler, and oh yeah, our son adores him.'" Tony scrunched up his nose a little. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Peter's told me about the Captain America collection that you showed him."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure some of the first meetings with Spangles could have gone a bit better," Tony huffed out. He looked at Mary and saw that her cheeks were turning a bit red. "Don't tell me that Jarvis showed you the recordings?"

"Alright, I won't tell you that." Tony groaned and dropped his head back against the headboard of the bed. "You were both out for blood in there."

"It almost became literal blood."

"And now?" Mary asked. "I don't see Steve around here, and Phil wouldn't tell me where was, said that you would know."

"Okay, in my defense, I only know where he is because I've been tracking him with Jarvis," Tony said, raising his finger up for a second. "Cap and I have come to, an understanding. We aren't at each other's throats, and actually, maybe, kind of, sorta, get along now." He wiggled when Mary nudged his side with her elbow.

"Mom tells me that he stood up to your black-mailing ex," she said with a smirk. "Went all righteous Captain America on him."

"The asshole had it coming!" Tony huffed with a pout. There were still a few lawsuits out there against George Hayes, and the press was still waiting for Tony's big reveal about the relationship that he had promised them. He kept reassuring them that it would come, and that he hadn't forgotten about it. He also praised them for putting in an effort when it came to Mini-Me.

"Oh, I know all about that, too," Mary said with a nod. Then she hit Tony's leg as hard as she could at the time. "We were supposed to talk about what would happen when you announced Peter to the Press." Tony opened his mouth to protest, then blinked with wide eyes when her hand reached up to tug him down, giving him a peck on the lips. "But, I'm proud of you at the same time. Mom and Dad played the press conference for me. Peter was beaming as he watched it again." Tony could feel his cheeks warming. "You are a proud father, Tony, and it isn't hard to see. Such a change from the man that first held his son, eyes wide, freaking out."

"Oh, I still freak out every time I hold him," Tony slipped in. "I'm just able to hide if better. And he's older, so he can land on his feet if I accidentally drop him. Like a cat. But, he's not a cat." Mary snorted softly. "I can't believe that anyone, especially you, trusts me with a tiny human."

"That boy couldn't stop singing your praises today!" Mary grinned at him. Tony relented and laid down next to Mary since she had pulled him down. "Telling me about all the things you did with him back at the Manor, and since you've arrived at the Tower. You are a good Father, Tony, and I don't want you to ever think otherwise."

"There's still so much room to mess up though," Tony told her. "I don't know how I've lasted this long, honestly. It's probably because there's still people here to help me with him. I'm really not sure how you manage to do it, manage to be a full-time parent all the time."

"You think I don't have help?" Mary said, looking at him with a smile in her eyes. She was amused by this. "Having Phil around to help? Having Steve in the same building to help? When we were in California, my parents were there all the time to help me. No parent is perfect, but what makes a parent worthy of their title, worthy of the love of their child, is that they try, really try." She rested a hand on Tony's cheek. "It's okay that you freaked out, that you still do, and that you thought that you might not be able to take over the primary role right away. What counts is that you didn't give up, though. You tackled it head first, just like you do with everything when it comes to Peter, and you aren't stopping."

"He gets into danger because of me," Tony argued weakly.

"And my job isn't the least bit dangerous?" Mary asked with a raised eyebrow. "Loki didn't find out about Peter because of you Tony, he knew about him before he even made it topside, the day he came to Earth. Our jobs each have their own set of dangers, our own enemies, and we try to protect him from that. Was this something that we planned for in our future? To have a child that would be in danger?"

"We didn't even plan for a child." He smirked a little when Mary pushed his face.

"My point is, we didn't do this on purpose, but it's going to happen. So, the least we can do is protect him when that danger comes calling, like we always do." Mary looked at Tony, really looked at him, into his eyes and ran her thumb along the edges of the dark circles under his eyes. "When was the last time you slept, Tony?"

Tony fidgeted a little, but couldn't bring himself to look away from her. "I passed out on the workshop couch last week sometime," he admitted quietly.

"You're sleeping here tonight, then," Mary announced, pushing a pillow towards him.

Tony started to shake his head, pushing himself up. "Nope, not going to happen." Mary grabbed the side of his shirt to stop him. "I can't sleep, not here, Mary. I'll end up making your injuries worse, and I'm sure you don't want to be stuck in this bed."

"You can't sleep one day a week," Mary told him sternly. "And it's not sleeping if you pass out from exhaustion."

"If you're going to make that distinction, then I probably haven't slept in nearly five weeks," Tony muttered.

"How bad was it to give you nightmares like this?" Mary asked softly, and Tony squeezed his eyes shut. "Are they worse?"

Tony swallowed, then licked his lips. "There was always a way out of the desert," he said quietly. "I'll be fine, you know that. I'll learn to deal with it, eventually." Mary let out a sigh, but she didn't push. He knew what she would say, she had said it all before when he was still having nightmares after getting back from Afghanistan. "Just as long as Peter doesn't see, than it doesn't matter."

"It'll always matter, Tony," Mary told him. "You shouldn't have to suffer-"

"I wasn't the one in a coma," Tony interrupted. "I wasn't the one stabbed by Loki. Got away with a couple busted suits, minimal concussion, and a sprained wrist, which is functioning back at ninety percent now. I got off relatively unscathed compared to others, compared to those that didn't come back."

"You take on too much." Mary tugged on his shirt, pulling him back to lay down on the bed. "You need to talk to someone about what happened, soon," she told him, her tone leaving no room for argument. They both laid there for a couple of moments, before Mary spoke up again. "You never did tell me where Steve was."

"Your neighbor went on a cross-country exploration trip," Tony told her. "And he has been listening to some ghastly music while doing it."

Mary let out a snort, smiling, and biting her lip to keep from laughing. Oh, there was a story there that Tony needed to know immediately.

* * *

The closer he got to the Tower, the more anxious Steve got. Mary was awake. It was enough to have him speeding through the streets on New York, and skidding into the private garage of the Tower, leaving tire marks on the cement. Steve jumped off of his back and jogged over to the elevator, pressing his hand to the scanner, and nearly falling in when the doors finally opened.

"A pleasure to have you back, Captain Rogers," Jarvis' voice filtered through the speakers. The elevator started to move on its own.

"Thanks, Jarvis." Steve was able to take a breath, and started to pat down his shirt and pants from wrinkles. He hadn't actually thought about it, but he probably looked a bit of a mess. As he was running his hands through his hair the doors opened to the floor that Mary was on. Steve stepped out, then stopped. He didn't actually know where Mary would be. Steve hadn't actually helped Tony on this floor, had mostly just helped with the rebuild of the broken windows and doors on the penthouse floor, where Peter would be sleeping.

"Mr Steve! You're back!" Steve grinned at the voice of Peter, calling out as he and Tony emerged from a hallway, the boy on his Daddy's back, arms wrapped around Tony's neck. Steve noted that Tony looked a little lighter, a smile on his face, and looked like he may have gotten some sleep recently.

"Hey, kiddo." Steve smiled and walked over to give him a hug, the boy never moving from his piggy-back ride from Tony.

"Mare's down the hall, second door. It's open," Tony informed him. "I have to feed this one lunch, his stomach is going to eat him soon!"

"No it's nooooot," Peter said. His growling stomach proved otherwise, and Peter only giggled as Tony rolled his eyes with a smile. "It's gonna eat everyone!"

"Yup, time to get some food," Tony said with a chuckle, heading towards the kitchen. Steve smiled as he watched them walk away, before heading in the direction that Tony had nodded towards.

The door to Mary's bedroom was indeed open, and she was sitting up in the bed, awake, and smiling. Jarvis must have told her he was coming, because she looked like she was expecting him. "Steven Rogers, how dare you not be in the city to greet me when I wake up." Steve smiled at her and took a few big steps to reach her bed, leaning in to hug her.

"How dare you sleep for so long," he retaliated softly. When they let go of the hug he sat down next to her in the bed. "You look a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you."

"You're not looking so bad yourself," she said, giving him a quick once over. "Apparently this cross-country trip Tony told me about has done you a little good?"

Steve shrugged a little, bobbing his head back and forth. "A little. It was good to get out, see things for myself, and not part of any kind of mission."

"I bet you're a people watcher," Mary said, leaning back against her pillows.

Steve chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I did do a lot of that. I talked to some people, too, learned some stuff about the Twenty-First century. But, it's nice to be back home." Mary raised an eyebrow at him.

"Don't think I've heard you use the phrase 'home' before. Sounds like you've learned a lot since I was out." Leave it to Mary to pick up on things, Steve thought. "Peter tells me that you stayed with them in the Manor before you left. He's going to be real happy to see you again, by the way."

"He already caught me walking in," Steve told her happily. "I think he was too engrossed in his piggy-back ride on Tony, though." He smiled when he heard Mary's laugh again. Everything was starting to feel like normal again now that she was back. "The Manor was, interesting to say the least."

"I'll say!" Mary exclaimed. "I mean, the things I must have missed out on. You and Tony are actually talking, and keeping eye contact, my parents are still here, too. And tell me, is it true, did my mother actually defend Tony?" Steve laughed at the look on Mary's face. Tony almost had the same look when it had happened, the same look of disbelief. "I didn't actually wake up in an alternate universe did I? There's not some horrid place out there when I'm actually dead, and I never met you or Tony? Can you imagine it!" She grabbed Steve's shoulder, moving him back and forth in an exaggerated fashion. "Peter lives with some other distant relative, you and Tony fight all the time, and suddenly some horrible superhero war breaks out, and oh! My poor little Peter gets involved in it! No, say it isn't so!" She put her arm over her eyes and slumped back against the pillows.

Steve couldn't keep his laughter in, even covering his mouth. "A superhero war? Mary, what the hell?" She smiled at him as she straightened up again.

"Dr Banner gave me some pain medication not too long ago, and I think it just kind of fuels my imagination." She preened a bit, batting her eyes at him. "Oh what am I doing? That does nothing for you. Need to get some guy with amazing lashes in here."

"Mary!" He exclaimed with a slight blush. "What exactly did Bruce give you?"

"Ohhhh, you call him Bruuuuuce," she teased, poking his arm a little. "Do you have a thing for the good Doctor? He's a little on the short side, so that would be interesting in a logistical format, because he's shorter than even Tony. But, the hair is very-"

"Mary," Steve said with a choked off chuckled. "He helped save the world, and Tony may or may have told me it's okay to just keep calling him Bruce."

"Toooony gave you permission." She smiled at him, and Steve felt the blush creeping up his neck again. "Oh, that, that right there is totally a thing. Is there a story? I want a story, Steven. Last I was aware, you had been avoiding Tony, and now you have a place to stay right here in his Tower." Mary gave him a knowing look. "I want to know how that happens. I heard what you two said to each other on the Hellicarrier." Steve looked away, and Mary could practically see the shame crawling all over him.

"I wish I had never said any of that," he muttered. "I feel like such a clod."

Mary pat Steve's back a little. "I like that word, clod. Just the way it sounds." Steve glanced back at Mary and she motioned for him to sit back with her on the bed. "Tony feels bad about what was said then, too, so you can both stop beating yourself up about it now. Tony has a lot of insecurities." Steve nodded a little, having had Tony talk to him about them, or let him bear witness to them in action. It really spoke platitudes to how much their relationship had advanced in such a short time. "Well, you'll be staying here now, right? Tomorrow's your birthday, and I know that both Stark men have been eagerly anticipating your arrival for that."

Steve chuckled lightly and nodded. "Yeah, I'll be sticking around. It's kind of horrid traveling in July in the southern US anyway," he said to her. "It's very hot and humid." Mary laughed, just nodding.

There was a light knock on the door and both of the rooms occupants looked over to see Coulson standing there, holding onto a file. "Captain, good to have you back."

"Good to be back, Coulson," Steve said with a smile.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Coulson asked before Mary shook her head, and he walked into the bedroom. He walked over to the other side of Mary, leaning down to give her a kiss. "I was going through some paperwork, getting the forms that you'll eventually need for when you decide to come back to work, and there was just something that bothered me about them."

"What's that?" Mary leaned up a little to try and look at the papers in the file he was holding. Steve felt like he should leave the room, lest Phil rope him into paperwork himself.

"Well, I was going to start filling these in for you," Phil started, flipping through a couple of pages.

"You are the master of paperwork, hun," Mary nodded, eventually just resting her chin on his shoulder.

"It turns out that I can't do that, though," Phil closed the file, but kept his hand inside the cover. "It was a paperwork nightmare getting you transferred to Tony's care, because he's technically not next of kin, and of course Peter is too young." Mary hummed, nodding, wondering along with Steve where this was going. "I thought to myself, I know how to take care of this, and really, it's just been long overdue." Coulson swiveled a bit, slid off the bed and down to the ground. On one knee. Holding up a ring. "Mary, will you let me be the one to fill out your paperwork, and take care of you, for the rest of your life, as my wife?"

Steve's eyes widened and he almost fell off the bed himself. Mary let out a shocked bark of laughter, then covered her mouth. But her eyes were shining. She nodded immediately. "Holy hell, yes!" She leaned forward, grabbing his face with her hands and kissed him. "That was possibly, the most perfect way to propose." Phil grinned at her. "Seriously, only you would propose while talking about paperwork, and still make it sound romantic." She kissed him again, beaming ear to ear.

Phil slipped the ring on her finger, then glanced over at Steve as he sat back on the bed, arm around Mary. "Don't propose with paperwork, Rogers. You wouldn't be able to pull it off." Mary cackled with laughter, burying herself in Phil's side.


	18. July 4th 2011

**A/N: It's Steve's birthday, and everyone has to celebrate! (Notes at the end)**

 _Chapters 17, and 18 posted all at once, don't miss a chapter! :)_

 **Unbeta'd, and Marvel owns more of this than I do. Disney owns them and the movie Tangled. Also, all music belongs to those that wrote/performed/produced/etc them. I use them for humor and good times.**

 **Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.**

* * *

 _Best Song –_  
 _(You Drive Me) Crazy_

 _Better Songs –_  
 _Shoot To Thrill_

"You're in my home, and you're adding horrible songs, in my presence!" Tony looked at his phone when Jarvis sent the new song alert. Steve was sitting on one of the loveseats, feet propped up, his own phone in his hand.

"It's my birthday," Steve said simply.

"It's America's birthday," Tony countered.

"I'm pretty sure I just said that." Tony narrowed his eyes at Steve and his shit eating grin. "Shouldn't you be out in the kitchen with Peter?" Tony grumbled a little and Steve glanced over, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't quite catch that."

"He kicked me out of the kitchen after I spilled a bowl of pancake batter," Tony grudgingly repeated. Steve raised his eyebrows at Tony. "Just because it's tradition, doesn't mean that I can actually make pancakes, well."

"What have you been doing the past four or five years?" Steve turned on the loveseat to face Tony more. Tony was holding onto his phone in one hand, and a mug of coffee in the other.

"Mary gave Jarvis her recipe, so when Pepper, or Rhodey, or even Happy, are around they help make the batter." Tony took a long drag of coffee. It was early, Peter having woken them up, with the exception of Steve. Steve had already been up and out for a morning run. He was the one who had started the pot of coffee that Tony was drinking from. (With some help from Jarvis on how to get the new machine started.) "And lately Mary's parents, or Agent have been helping cook. He's actually a pretty decent cook, by the way."

"Who's out there right now?" Steve asking, glancing towards the kitchen.

"Agent got Mary into a wheel-chair, Bruce's orders, so they're both in there with Peter." Tony finished his coffee and stared forlornly at the mug. "And now I have to wait until they're done to get more coffee, because I'm not allowed back into the kitchen."

"I'm not allowed in the kitchen at all," Steve told him, leaning back against one of the pillows on the loveseat.

"Well, that's just a given," Tony shot back. "The person receiving the pancakes never gets anywhere close to the work. They're really not supposed to do any kind of work on their birthday."

"Sounds all steeped in tradition."

"Damn straight," Tony said with a nod.

"Soooo, if it's my birthday, then does that mean I get to listen to whatever music that I want?" Steve asked with a smirk, pulling his phone back up. Tony groaned loudly as another song was added to Steve's, in his opinion, horrendous playlist.

 _I Want It That Way_

"Why do you do this to me?" Tony dropped his head back on the couch.

"I did a lot of soul searching while I was out there in the wild blue yonder." Steve made a big sweeping arm motion towards the big windows.

"Did you really just say, Wild Blue Yonder?" Tony looked over at the super soldier.

"I made some friends out there, and I found a groove," Steve continued like Tony hadn't said anything. But suddenly Tony was smirking.

"Is it the same groove that you danced to Justin Timberlake too?" Steve's face dropped and Tony started to cackle softly. "I so wish that Mary had gotten video of that."

"I thought that she would never tell anyone else that story," Steve muttered.

"Anyone else?" Tony questioned, but Steve just shook his head. A couple minutes later a new cup of coffee appeared in front of Tony's face. He made a weird moaning sound and took the mug, dropping his phone on the couch, and cuddling the mug to his chest. Cooing. "Hello, my one true love."

"It's a good thing you're single, or someone might be getting jealous." Mary rolled around from behind the couch, in between the couch and the loveseat. She glanced at Steve briefly, a little smirk on her face. He just raised an eyebrow and made a pointed look at her left hand. Tony didn't notice any of the looks.

"Coffee would never try to blackmail me," Tony murmured as he took a drink. "Coffee would never try to kill me."

"Not necessarily true," Mary said and Tony actually shushed her.

"Don't talk about my sweet precious coffee like that," Tony looked at her, scandalized. "He's right here," he stage whispered. Mary just rolled her eyes and started to roll backwards in the wheelchair.

"Steve, come along, your food is almost done," she announced. "My parents, and Dr Banner, are on their way up."

"A big family breakfast?" Steve asked as he got up from his seat. Tony took a couple extra seconds before getting up as well, holding onto his mug.

"Peter requested it, because it is a special day." Mary said with a smile.

"He's just extra happy that he gets pancakes on a non-Saturday day," Tony said as the trio went to the dining table.

"He is entirely your son," Mary remarked. Tony just grinned.

"Yes, yes he is."

Steve chuckled as they walked in to see that the table had already been set. Syrup, powdered sugar, and a bowl of fresh whip cream were already there, and Phil was coming out with a couple of pitchers of juice. Peter was following behind him, a plate stacked high with pancakes in his hands, focusing on their balance in his hands. As soon as the pancakes were safely on the table Peter looked up and grinned. He ran over to Steve and hugged him around the waist.

"Happy Birthday, Mr Steve!" Peter grinned up at him as Steve hugged him back. "Are we gonna watch the fireworks for your birthday?"

"You bet," Steve said with a smile. "It's a holiday after all." Peter grinned and pulled out a chair, wanting Steve to sit there. He then pulled a chair away from the table for Mary, and she leaned over to kiss his head as she slid into the spot. "Looks like you know where everyone is supposed to sit," Steve said with a chuckle.

"Mama sits here, and Phil sits next to her," Peter said as he pat the chair on the other side of her. "And then Daddy sits on the other side of Mama, and you sit next to Daddy." Peter ran over to the other side of the table, tapping the chairs. "Granma and Granpa sit here, and Uncle Bruce sits across from Daddy, and Uncle Clint sits next to Uncle Bruce."

Steve raised an eyebrow, but it was Tony that voiced his question. "Barton is here?"

"He got here last night," Phil said as he brought out the last plate of pancakes. "Told him that he wasn't allowed to miss breakfast." He leaned in to kiss Mary, a little longer than usual that even had Peter making a face, until he suddenly squealed.

"I know! It's gross when old people kiss!" Clint had slipped in the room and nabbed Peter around the waist, spinning them around once. "It's like they're eating each other's faces!"

"Eww!" Peter said as he laughed, kicking his feet in the air. "But they can't eat each other, everyone needs a face!" Peter looked at Mary and Phil. "Mama! Phil! Don't each faces, there are blueberry pancakes instead." No one could resist a giggle at Peter's words.

"Yes, there are lots of pancakes," Tony said, sipping his coffee with a smirk. "Good to see you Legolas."

"He's not an elf, he's not tall enough," Peter said and Tony burst out with a sharp laugh.

"You recently watched Lord of the Rings with him, didn't you?" Clint accused, setting Peter back down on the ground.

"I'll have you know that it's one of my favorites," Tony said, leaning back in the chair that Peter had assigned to him. "And I am not the first one to show him the movies. That was all Mary."

"I read the books to him as well," Mary said proudly, making Tony grin.

"Our son shall be a nerd, and it shall be glorious." Tony put his mug on the table and held out his arms. "Petey, come to your fabulous Daddy." Peter smiled and ran over, jumping up into Tony's lap. Tony smiled, arm wrapped around Peter's waist. "By the way, we have assigned seating," he said looking at Clint.

Bruce walked in the room and Peter was pointing to Clint's chair. "Uncle Clint sits there, and Uncle Bruce sits there." Bruce blinked and took his seat, not actually sure what was going on. He looked to Tony who only shrugged.

"Little man is in charge of this shindig, apparently," was all that Tony offered. Steve chuckled a little and took his seat next to Tony. Mary shot him a knowing smile, and Steve wiggled the fingers on his left hand. He told her that he had no issue with them announcing their engagement on his birthday, but they insisted on waiting until the next day. Steve was now threatening to reveal their happy news.

William and Rachel walked into the room a moment later, Coulson putting down a new carafe of coffee, and a new mug in front of Tony. He managed to go through coffee like a thirsty man in the desert. "Hi Granpa! Hi Granma!" Peter waved, still sitting in Tony's lap. "I saved you seats over there," he said, pointing to the two empty seats.

"And where is your seat, young man?" Rachel asked her grandson with a smile.

Peter grinned and pat Tony's knees. "Right here."

"I like to think that I'm a lot more comfortable than a wooden chair," Tony said with a smile. Peter leaned back against Tony's chest, as if proving the point. After that pancakes were passed around, Steve getting the first helping, Peter taking more than he could eat, but Tony assured Mary that he would eat the rest, since the boy was in his lap.

It was a lazy morning, every one staying around the table, Tony, William, and Rachel sipping on cups of coffee, Peter resting against Tony with the beginnings of a food coma going on. Steve had been about to start clearing the table, but Coulson and Clint hopped up and started doing it. Coulson gave him a pointed look, and Tony explained that the recipient of the birthday didn't do any grunt work on their special day. It was Parker Law.

"Where's the best spot for fireworks this year, Tony?" Mary asked as she finished off the last of her water before the glass was taken to be washed.

"The whole damn city," Tony commented, hand resting on Peter's back, who was napping lightly on Tony's chest. "I figure everyone deserves a little excitement today, so I set up all the fireworks displays for New York City."

"Just Manhattan?" Bruce asked.

"Nope, New York City," Tony said again. "That includes Staten Island, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the works." He glanced around at the silent audience around him. "What? I've spent more on worse. A lot more." Tony shrugged a little, glancing down as his other hand ran through Peter's hair. Steve noted that Peter's hand was over Tony's arc reactor, and how relaxed Tony was about it. "Figured the city could use a break, and I'd help up so as much money and time can be put into continuing to rebuild."

"That's very generous, Tony," Steve said to him with a smile. This was probably something small to Tony Stark and his bank account, even the action probably something he wouldn't remember a couple years from now, but 'small' stuff like that impressed Steve. Tony was one person to the press and the public, but he was completely different in his private life, and Steve liked getting to know that person.

Tony just shrugged again at the statement, finishing his last cup of coffee. "I propose that we move this lazy affair into a more comfortable location. Specifically one where I can recline comfortably if I'm going to have this lump sitting on my chest." There was a fond smile on Tony's face as he brought up the suggestion. Steve got up to carefully take Peter from Tony so the older man could get up, and everyone moved as a group to the living room.

It seemed that everyone had taken a cue from Peter, and most were taking naps on the much more comfortable pieces of furniture of Tony's living room. Peter's grandparents had excused themselves back to their guest room, saying they'd be back for dinner and fireworks.

Steve woke up first, or at least he thought he was first. A glance at the other end of the couch saw that Peter and Tony were talking quietly with each other. Tony was on his back, propped with a pillow behind his head, and Peter half laying, half sitting on Tony's chest, fingers tracing the arc reactor through Tony's shirt. Steve closed his eyes again, not wanting to interrupt their moment. He almost felt bad when his Super Soldier hearing picked up their conversation.

"-gonna live here now?" Peter whispered to Tony.

"Gotta get the all clear from Mama, but yeah," Tony responded. "Would you like that?"

"Where would my room be?"

"You'd have a room up here with me, where you sleep now, and you'd have a room downstairs with Mama and Agent." Steve could hear Tony adjust himself, pulling a small giggle from Peter. "It would be like when you would come over to the Manor, two bedrooms."

"I still have to share you and Mama, though."

"Yeah," Steve could picture Tony's nod. "But, we'd all be much closer now. You wouldn't have to wait to come and see me, I'll be in the same building."

"I like staying with you," Peter told his Daddy. "I like having everyone close."

"Yeah?" Tony asked, a little more quietly, Steve could hear something in his voice. "It's nice having loved ones so close, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Family is important."

Steve couldn't help but open one of his eyes part-way to look over at them. Tony was looking at Peter like there was nothing else in the world, but Steve could see that Tony's emotions were close to the surface. Now he couldn't stop thinking about Tony, about how he had grown up. He was an only child, but didn't he had many friends he could hang out with? Like Peter and Wade, or Steve and Bucky. Had Tony always lived alone? He certainly lived alone here in New York, Steve knew that much, but what about when he had been living in California?

"Is Mr Steve gonna move here, too?" Peter asked. Steve opened his other eye, and Tony glanced over at him. They locked eyes for just a second.

"That's up to him," Tony replied, looking back at Peter. "Remember, little man, adults have other things that might keep them from moving here. We have to ask first." Tony paused a little, Peter nodding his head. "But, you can tell him that there is a place for him if he wants to move here."

"I like when Mr Steve is close," Peter confessed, laying his head back down on Tony's shoulder. Tony's hand rubbed Peter's back, humming a song to him, the little boys' eyes starting to close again. Peter's hand tightened briefly over the arc reactor, covering the blue glow, before he drifted back off to sleep. Steve was positive that he had imagined Tony's barely there reply; "So do I."

* * *

"Mr Steve!" Peter ran over to Steve after lunch was over, grabbing his hand. "Come on, Mr Steve!"

Steve laughed and let the boy lead him across the floor, over to the elevator. "Peter, what's going on? Where are we going?"

"I have a present for you." Peter beamed up at him as the elevator doors closed and started to move. "So does Daddy," Peter whispered to him. "But I didn't tell you that!" Steve snorted, and nodded with a smile.

The elevator ride was a little longer than usual, and when the doors opened Peter had taken Steve's hand again and pulled him down a hallway. It was a little chillier down here, and Steve thought that maybe they had gone down to one of the basement levels. Tony was standing at the end of the hallway in front of plain wooden door. There was a keypad, and a hand scanner, as a lock though.

"You moved faster than I thought, Petey-pie," Tony said with a smile.

"I wanna show him!" Peter exclaimed happily. Tony rolled his eyes fondly, and turned to press his hand to the scanner, and put in the code to the door. The door unlocked and Tony pushed it open, letting Peter pull Steve inside first. The room was fairly plain, a few chairs and one couch in there, acting as a private room. There was door that led to a small bathroom, but other than that just wood paneled walls. Steve did notice that there was something small, wrapped in birthday wrapping paper, sitting on the chair though, and he saw his name on it. He walked over and grabbed it, turning it in his hands.

"You gonna admire the wrapping paper all day, or open it?" Steve heard Tony say, closing the wooden door behind him. The blonde blinked a little, then pulled the paper off, Peter reaching up to take it to throw away, and Steve found himself looking at dark stained, thin wooden box. He opened it and saw a black pen inside, sleek and modern looking.

"So before you go thinking that I just got you a regular, future looking, pen, let me explain it." Tony stepped forward, motioning for Steve to pick up the pen. He noticed on the side was a piece of plastic, or glass, almost like the screen of his Starkphone. "This is something I've been working on for a bit, and I feel like I've got it to the point where other people can try it. I know that you and Peter like to draw, so may I introduce to you the most advanced drawing tool in your arsenal." Steve looked up at Tony with a raised eyebrow.

"It's not going to replace any of your pencils, just pens, but also markers." Tony moved to stand next to him, pointing at the pen as he went. "The tip is retractable, but it also has several different settings. Ball-point, fine-tip, broad, flat, round, even a calligraphy setting. There are over five-hundred different colors programmed into it, so you can get everything just right. Really, it pretty much works off of an advanced color wheel. But, for those rare moments when you just can find the right color, you can make your own."

Tony held out his hand, asking permission to use the pen, and Steve put it in his palm, smirking a little internally. Did this count as handing something to Tony, again? Tony held out his arm and placed the top of the pen to his shirt. The rectangle on the pen lit up, showing the color of Tony's shirt, and the tip of the pen clicked out. "You now have the color of my shirt at your use." Tony grinned at the pen. He placed the end against Steve's skin, and the screen lit up again, changing to his skin color.

Steve's mouth opened a little. "You made a pen that can make any color it sees?" He looked up at Tony to see him nodding with a smile. "This is, this is amazing, Tony. It's seriously genius." Tony preened a little bit, and Steve smiled. "Thank you, this is really great."

Tony smiled at him, nodding. "Well, it's not going to be as good as Petey's present that's for sure. I had to beg him to let me go first, so my present wasn't overshadowed." Steve chuckled and smiled, putting the pen back into the wooden case, slipping it into his front pocket. Peter was standing in front of the plain wooden wall, rocking back and forth on his feet, waiting patiently. The most patient he's probably ever been.

Tony reached over, lifting a hidden panel in the wood and punched in a code. The rest of the let out a click and a soft hiss, and it started to slide away. Steve blinked. A hidden door in the wall. Peter took his hand and pulled him in as the door opened enough to let them through. Steve could tell that the room past the hidden door was big, and long. There were glass cases in the middle of the room and along the walls, and soft lights started to flicker on.

He saw a replica of his shield sitting at the front of the middle glass cases. Looking around the room he could see that everything was filled with old Captain America memorabilia. Peter was hopping up and down on his feet a little, excited to show this to him.

"Over here are comics and cards," Peter said as he pulled Steve over to the first set of cases. He let go of his hand to get close to the glass, like the first time he had seen all of this back at Tony's Malibu mansion. "All originals!"

Steve had known that they had made collectibles after he had gone down with the plane, but he hadn't been aware of how many, and what kinds. He noticed a few empty spots, and remembered what Bruce had told him, how Tony had completed Coulson's set with some of his own. That's when the thought struck him. This was Tony's personal collection. He glanced back at the man in question, and swore he saw a slight flush coming up his neck.

"Come over here!" Peter ran over to the middle cases, waving for Steve to follow him. He noted that not all of the room was full, but there were spaces for specific items. Looking inside the first case he saw an old map of Germany, then saw his handwriting on the map. Other maps had Bucky's handwriting, and Dum-Dum's, even Gabe's. These were the maps that they had used in the war.

"Wow," Steve breathed out, looking over everything.

"Tell him Daddy," Peter said, looking over at Tony.

"Peter wants you to have this stuff," Tony told the super soldier. "He brought up a good point that most of this used to belong to you in the first place. Some of it's at the Smithsonian, for their Captain America exhibit, but that can be pulled back if need be."

Steve's mouth dropped open a little. Tony had collected all this, preserved it, put it on display, even in a museum, and now he was just giving it away? He let his fingers trail softly against the glass, looking at the stuff, then stopped. There were dog tags, six sets of them.

He wasn't sure how long he stood there, looking at all the tags, but his eyes only focusing on one set. _Barnes, James Buchanan_. Suddenly Tony was there, pressing a thumb to the bottom of the display case, then slowly opened the glass. Steve looked at the man, and he nodded down towards the tags.

"Like Peter said, it's all yours," Tony said softly. Steve licked his lips, feeling his heart fluttering in his chest, and reached in, gently picking up the tags.

"Buck, he lost a set in Italy," Steve said quietly. He turned over one of the tags and saw a red scratch on it. "He tested it on my shield, after the first paint job, and there was forever a red mark on the back of it." Steve bit his bottom lip, biting back tears. "How did you find these?"

"Dugan had them," Tony said just as quietly. "He must have found them, or something." Tony knew exactly what had happened. Someone had turned in the dog tags nearly five years after the war ended, thinking that they were from a fallen soldier and that they family deserved to have them. After Bucky's parents had died Dum Dum Dugan had somehow come into possession of them, and then had given them to his Aunt Peggy. It was for Tony's tenth birthday that Peggy had given him the set of dog tags from the Howling Commandos. She felt they were in safer hands with Tony than with Howard. Tony didn't want to tell him that Peggy had given them to him, not yet.

"The museum was able to get copies from the Army," Tony continued.

"Yeah, I saw the exhibit," Steve said, still holding onto the tags. "They had a lot of originals as well." Tony waved a hand towards the empty displays. "All that came from here?"

"Well, about half of it," Tony told him. "I don't have the biggest collection, not by far, but I have the most authentic and original one, thanks to Howard." tony put a hand on Peter's head, the little boy leaning against his leg. "The stuff in the middle cases are yours, you can do with them what you want."

Steve looked back at all the cases, the lights reflecting off the glass. "I would appreciate it if you could keep this all safe for me, Tony." Steve looked back at the genius with a smile. "You and Peter seem to know exactly what to do with it. I think I'll hold onto this, though." He gripped Bucky's tags.

Leaning down in front of Peter, he gave the boy a big, sincere, smile. "Thank you so much, Peter. Before we see the fireworks, do you wanna hear about my best friend, Bucky?" Peter's eyes got big. "I'll tell you all the stories. Bucky was my best friend, like Wade is your best friend."

"Yes please!" Peter jumped a little, hugging Steve around the neck. Steve smiled, lifting Peter effortless into his arms, tucking him against his side.

Tony snorted, with a small smile, and followed the two men out of the room, making sure that the wooden wall shut again. "Daddy, come on!" Tony looked and saw Steve and peter waiting for him just outside of the man door. "Mr Steve's gonna tell stories!" Steve smiled at Tony, and he felt a little flutter in his chest.

* * *

Mary lounged on the couch, a couple of pillows behind her, and underneath her, watching Steve and Tony outside with Peter. The little boy was sitting on a full length lounger, at the end, listening to Steve with an intensity she had only seen applied to talks about science with Tony. Tony was laying on his own lounger next to Steve, sunglasses on, arm behind his head, and ankles crossed. Steve was sitting in the middle of his, hands and arms moving as he told his story. Phil sat down next to her and kissed her cheek.

"Steve still telling his stories?" He asked his fiancé, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"I think whenever he gets to the end of one, Peter keeps asking for another," Mary told him, leaning against him. "And he can't say no to Peter."

"To be fair, not many can say no to him," Phil corrected.

"I'm glad he's having a good birthday. Steve, that is," Mary said. "And Tony looks a hell of a lot more relaxed than the last time I saw him. I thought for sure that what I saw from the Helicarrier footage would be the norm for them." Phil rubbed her shoulder a little. "But, I know that Tony, and probably Steve, is still keeping a few things from me."

"Sadly, I was still recovering when all that happened," Phil admitted.

Mary gasped dramatically, putting her hand over her mouth. "The amazing Agent Phil Coulson doesn't have information? Someone alert the Director! We have to shut down SHIELD!" She laughed when Coulson poked her side. "Careful, I'm your delicate fiancé."

Phil leaned in and kissed her properly. "I'm thinking a fall wedding, late September."

"That's oddly specific, and not that far away." Mary watched him pull out his tablet, a calendar popping up.

"Even villains take the days off on Sundays, so I'm thinking the 25th," Coulson continued, highlighting the day.

Mary hummed, amused. "I thought it was usually the bride that makes all the big decisions."

"It's a good thing that I know you," Phil told her with a smile.

"Me-thinks that you have been planning this out for a while." She tapped the date in September, tapping out a phrase. 'Wedding - Will Attend On Pain Of Death By Bride'. As she hit save, another alert popped up on the screen, and Coulson reached over to tap it.

The browser popped up, pulling up an entry in a blog, and the two SHIELD Agents looked at each other. Twitter was brought up, looking at the trending topics, and they knew this was about to get bad, fast.

Steve laughed as Peter tumbled back on his lounger, re-enacting a story about him and Wade. Tony sat up to interject, to stop the boy from getting too worked up and falling off the furniture, but with a smile on his face. Steve's phone went off with a text message, earning a half-hearted glare from Tony when he heard the 90's Boy Band ringtone.

He saw that it was a message from Meg, and he figured that she probably had a couple other songs for him that he could add to their playlist. **'DUDE! WTF! And apparently Happy Birthday?!** '

Steve frowned at the text. **'Thanks? And what do you mean? What's going on?'**

The response was almost immediate. **'Captain Freaking America much?!'** Steve's eyes widened. **'I thought we were long-distance-platonic-life-partners?!'** Steve narrowed his eyes in confusion at that one.

"Steve?" He looked up to see Coulson at the door, tablet in hand. He nodded with his head and Steve nodded.

"I'll be right back," he told father and son, ruffling Peter's hair as he got up. **'I have no idea what that last text means.'**

"Did you have any plans on going back out on your road trip?" Mary asked, looking down at her phone. They were both in work mode.

"Um, I'm not actually sure," Steve said carefully. He had fun, and he hadn't made it to the other side of the country yet, but he forgot how much fun it could be here as well. "Why?"

"Some pictures have been circulating, and a couple of pictures of your shield were caught," Mary explained. Steve frowned and walked over to Coulson and his tablet. "Ever since the Battle of New York, and really, that's what it's be termed as? People have been dying to figure out who the 'new Captain America' is."

"They figured it out?" Steve asked, looking through the pictures that Coulson was looking through. There were a lot of him getting on and off his motorcycle, the circular pack he had for the shield attached to the front of the bike, (the only place it would comfortably fit that wasn't on his back). There were a couple of shots of the pack open, catching the colors. So far he wasn't seeing any of his face, a couple of side shots, but nothing that was clear.

"Not yet, but they're getting close," Coulson said. "They've pegged the bike at least, and I think you're underestimating the intensity of an online obsession."

 **'It means that although your burgeoning love for Stark burns hot like a desert sun, I know that that from a distance, we have something special. I will be very jealous if you've replaced me. We bonded over music Steven. Or do you prefer Captain?'**

Steve glanced back at his phone. Of course she would have figured out his identity if she saw the pictures. Meg knew what his bike looked like, and she would know who he was since he always wore the same jacket when he was riding.

 **'I could never replace you, you're my wingman.'**

 **'GDR I am! And now you Really owe me a new phone! Get talking to Stark, chop chop!'**

"You're going to have to keep a low profile now, unless you want to announce your identity," Mary said, looking over at him. "I'll be staying here with Peter, and Phil, until I'm 100%."

 **'Does that mean you're not angry at me anymore?'**

 **'You mean for not telling me that you're a National Icon from the 40's?'**

"I know for a fact that there's plenty of space here for you to stay, Captain," Coulson threw in.

"I know that Peter would really like it," Mary said, knowing that it was a low blow. She smirked when Steve made a little whine.

 **'Yup, that's the one.'**

 **'Nah, wasn't really angry in the first place. Can't be angry with someone who just wants to keep a little privacy in his life. Still want that phone.'**

"Does that mean you'll be giving up the apartment?" Steve asked Mary.

"Probably," she nodded. "Since Tony has already come out about having a son we don't have to try and hide as much, and it'll be easier for Peter to see his Daddy." Mary leaned her head back a little to look at Steve. "And it's closer to work, and my fiancé."

"Fiancé?" They turned, seeing Tony walking with Peter on his shoulders.

 **'May take me a couple of days, Tony just found out that his sons' mom is engaged.'**

 **'Cute! Did he know it was going to happen?'**

 **'Nope.'**

 **'Keep me updated'**

 **'Yep.'**

Tony looked between Mary, then Coulson, then Steve, then back to Coulson, and back to Mary. "Phil proposed last night," Mary eventually told him.

"You're getting married?" Peter asked.

"We are, baby boy," Mary said carefully, smiling, but not sure how Peter would take it.

"To Phil?" Mary nodded to him. "Yay!" Peter put his arms up in the air, a grin on his face. Tony was still blinking, face carefully blank. He put Peter down and the little boy ran over to hug Mary, then Phil around the waist.

"We still have to tell Granma and Granpa," Mary told Peter, pulling the boy up on to the couch when he came back over to her. "Let's not ruin the surprise yet."

"Should probably get some more food for dinner, then, going to need another party," Tony finally spoke up. "Most likely desserts. I'll go tell Bruce, I think he said he was going to cook. He'll probably need to recruit some help." Tony turned around and headed out of the room. Mary glanced at Phil for a moment.

"Sorry, Steve," Mary looked at him, still holding Peter who had grabbed her hand to look at her ring. "We didn't want this to take over your birthday."

"Seriously, don't worry about it," Steve told her, but looked at Coulson as he spoke, too. "Fireworks are coming soon, and we celebrated most of the day. That's more than I'm used, too. Seriously, this needs to be celebrated. I'll go help with desserts, in fact."

True to his words, Tony had indeed told Bruce that more desserts would be needed. Steve found him in the kitchen down on the floor that everyone else was staying on. Or at least he thought everyone else was staying there.

"Did Tony show you your floor yet?" Bruce asked as they worked in the kitchen. Tony was nowhere to be found, but Jarvis insisted that he would be back before dinner.

"My floor?" Steve raised an eyebrow at him.

"Weren't you helping Tony with the rebuild?" Bruce glanced at him, then went back to what he was making. "Getting the windows in on all the livable floors?"

"Yeah," Steve said with a nod. "But I don't really know much about blueprints, and specially the ones that Tony uses. You have your own floor?"

Bruce hummed and nodded. "There's a floor for each Avenger," he said casually. "He's working on a gym, and a communal floor for everyone. I'm by the private R&D floor that holds his workshop, and my own lab." Bruce took something out of the oven, placed on the counter to cool, then turned to face Steve. "He set them up so that they could crash here whenever they wanted, like after missions, or in Thor's case, whenever he's on Earth. If he comes back that is, but we think he will."

Steve had expected that Tony would have made a floor for everyone. "So, when Mary said that she would be staying here...?"

"This is her floor, and I assume Coulson's, with a room for Peter of course" Bruce said with a wave around the kitchen. "Her parents are staying in a guest room on this floor as well, but I would assume that if Peter gets his way, they'll have their own floor. Probably end up living here half the year, or something."

Thinking about it, it wouldn't be a bad move to stay here. The apartment in Queens was a bit of ways from the New York HQ, not that he went there that often, and Mary was still his Handler. Peter would be here, as would Tony, and Bruce. He didn't really have any big attachments to the apartment he was staying out now either. Steve decided that when Tony, or Peter, asked if he would stay here, he would say yes. It was just easier.

* * *

Tony easily lost himself down in his workshop, working on the new suit. Jarvis would tell him when it was time for dinner, shut down the lab if he had too, but Tony needed this little distraction. He wasn't sure why hearing that Mary and Agent were engaged was such a shock to him. He certainly wasn't surprised, they had been dating for a while now, at least two years if his thinking was right. Tony dropped the screwdriver on the desk. He couldn't concentrate now.

Steve was back, there were fireworks in a couple of hours, Peter had confessed to liking living with Tony. It had been a really good day. He even showed his private collection to Steve, Steve Rogers! The last person on the planet that he would have wanted to show that room too, but it had been worth it, seeing his reaction.

If Mary was going to get married, then that meant that Coulson would be moving into the Tower for sure, which was okay. Meant more people around, and Peter liked Coulson. Bruce said that he would stay in the Tower, probably still travel around the world, but he felt better knowing that there would be a place for him to come back too. Clint had come back to check on Mary, and to apologize for his mind-controlled actions, but he had liked having his own room. He said that he probably wouldn't live there full time, but he'd take Tony up on the offer of a room whenever he was in the city.

So why did Tony feel so damn lonely in his Tower?

"Sir," Jarvis intoned as Tony scrubbed his face with his hands. "Dr Banner says that dinner is ready."

"Thanks, J," Tony murmured. He got up from his seat and left the workshop, locking down the doors and decided to take the stairs, to keep moving. Upstairs he saw Mary's parents walking towards the kitchen ahead of him. Tony wondered if Peter had assigned seats again. When he was corralled into sitting next to Steve again, his question was answered.

Tony smiled when he saw Rachel apple cake sitting on the table. "You spoil us, Rachel, another apple cake."

"I was requested to make it," she told him from across the table. "I'll be watching your loose hands, Anthony." Tony scrunched up his face when she used his full name.

"I'll make sure you get a big piece," Steve told him a small smile.

The announcement came barely five minutes into the meal, Peter barely able to contain his excitement, forcing Mary and Coulson to tell everyone else in the room. Rachel and William were the most excited, Mary's mother checking the ring to see if it fit. Apparently it had been Rachel's great-great-grandmothers' ring, and it was passed down in the family to every generation. Phil had asked for it at Christmas time, asking their permission for Mary's hand in marriage. Tony kept a smile on his face as they ate, the sun sinking slowly. They all ended up bring desserts to fireworks.

Tony had pre-planned the firework show, setting up furniture up on the roof of the Tower. Coulson and Clint helped Mary to the roof, and to the outdoor couch up there. Peter snuggled up between Mary and Coulson, happily waiting for the fireworks in the sky to start. The Fitzpatrick's weren't far from their daughter and grandson, and Bruce and Clint claimed two chairs on the other side. Tony leaned against one of the power boxes as colors started to explode in the sky.

Steve leaned next to Tony, head tilted up to watch the sky. "This is one of the best views I've ever had," Steve said to the man. Tony glanced at him, then back up in the sky. "You did a good job, Tony."

Tony nodded a little. "If you need a place to lay low from the cameras, you can stay here," Tony said, kicking himself. What the hell, Stark? "You can have the best view of the city all the time, staying here."

"Not a half bad idea," Steve told him. "Thanks, Tony. I appreciate the offer."

"As long as you don't put anymore crappy music in that playlist of yours."

"That means I would have to start putting crappy music in there," Steve retaliated. Tony let out a soft groan and the blonde smiled. "Guess we have to hope that Mary and Coulson pick good music for their wedding."

"I'll hack the DJ's gear if I have too," Tony threatened.

"What if they get a live band?" Steve asked.

"Money can buy good music." Steve snorted softly, shaking his head with a smile. "But since they're getting married so quickly, I'll have to work quickly to make a good music list for them."

"You're planning their wedding a little, aren't you?" Steve asked.

"Just parts of the reception," Tony answered. "It's no secret that Starks know how to throw a party."

"Something tells me that they don't exactly want something big." Steve turned his head a little to look at Tony.

"I can make something small," Tony said with confidence, still looking ahead. "And if they already have some ideas, well," he shrugged a little, "it's no secret the Stark name has a lot of money. Couldn't think of something more worthwhile to throw money at." They both looked over to couch, seeing Coulson with his arm around Mary's shoulders, Peter's head bobbing up between them as he marveled at the fireworks. Steve moved a little closer, their shoulders almost touching, looking back up at the sky.

"Jarvis tells me that you need another phone?" Tony said after a couple moments.

"Yeah," Steve nodded a little. "Made a few friends out there, and there's one that could use the phone better than I could. You could probably get some data off of that one that looks better than mine."

"I don't like bring back data about bad music choices to the R&D labs," Tony said with a little smirk. Steve huffed through his nose. "I'll get a new phone up to you this week."

"Thanks, Tony," he smiled. "Thanks for an amazing birthday."

"I just gave you a pen," Tony said, looking at him. "Everything else was planned out by Peter, or just something that always happens on birthdays. I didn't really do anything." Steve just smiled a little, nodding. He knew that Tony hadn't easily given up his collection like he did.

Everyone was pulled back to the sky, the grand finale bursting in the sky. The sound was loud, the pops vibrating through the air. Steve clenched his fist a little, and startled a little when Tony knocked his shoulder with his own.

"I tried to time the explosions so that it would be either too slow, or too fast," Tony said quietly to him. "I tried to make easier for those who had seen war,..." he trailed off.

Steve's hand unclenched, and rested over Tony's lightly. "On behalf of all those that have seen action, thanks for the consideration." A particularly loud pop in the air had Steve closing his hand around Tony's instinctively. Tony squeezed his hand instinctively around Steve's, trying to keep him calm.

"We can go back inside," Tony told him.

"I think I can handle a few more seconds," Steve said. "Thanks," he said, and Tony almost missed it over the sound of the fireworks. He just gave Steve's hand a little squeeze in response. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad at the Tower if Steve was going to stick around.

* * *

 **We've come to the end! This is the last chapter to this story, but worry not fine readers, the sequel (Proof of Concept) will follow up quickly, by the weekend. I would like to thank everyone who's read this, who's left kudos and likes, and comments, and followed along on this crazy ride. This is by far one of the longest stories I've written, and it's not done, probably not close. At first this took me out of my regular comfort zone, but I quickly fell in a groove, and everyone responded incredibly. My plans changed several times through out this story, and you guys kept Mary Parker alive. That's right, she was originally not going to survived the first couple chapters of this story, but now, I can't imagine this story without her. Expect more one-shots, more extra fics, and if there is anything that anyone would like to see let me hear about it! ( .com) I know of one thing coming soon. :D**

 **So again, thank you, everyone! Seriously!**

 **What to look forward too in the next story? More fluff, more Tony and Steve interacting, and actually getting some where, more Angst, and Captain America 2. Dun Dun Dun. And of course more Peter! Peter growing up and aging.**

 **Be on the look out for Proof of Concept, coming soon!**

 **You're all beautiful!**


	19. UpdateExtras

**EDIT: The formatting went wonky on this, and it Should be fixed now! Sorry for that!**

Guess what kats and kittens! (Links don't actually work here, so that's interesting.)

The sequel is officially posted! Proof of Concept is up and live with the first chapter!

fanfiction dot net /s/11909590/1/Proof-of-Concept

Also, I present unto thee, fun extras. I've got a playlist for the last three chapters up, and here's a link to the Spotify playlist -

play dot spotify dot com/ user/1212277980/playlist/5Ni6FQEsDCWMVB56L4Ajop

And the youtube playlist -

youtube dot com/ playlist?list=PLyhEk38f74EsRixuexklxRtvytrKFqv72

Both have the same songs on them, so it really doesn't matter which one you choose. I made both for those that don't have Spotify, or can't access it, or those that even prefer one or the other.

You're all still beautiful, and amazing!


End file.
